World's Most Dangerous Friend
by AtEquilibrium
Summary: What would you do if you unknowingly befriended the world's number one hitman and was dragged into the dark world of Cosa Nostra? AU!
1. Prologue

"I-I don't know," he said, unable to keep his voice from quivering. A trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face. The panel of judges, however, remained unconvinced.

"Boy, it'd be a nice reminder that we don't have all day. Tell the truth, or the consequences wouldn't work out so well. I'll ask again – who do you work for?"

"I don't – I don't work for anyone! Please believe me! I was curious – I didn't –!"

"Oh, _curious_ , were you, boy?" The deep voice said, in feigned amusement, a voice that sent chills throughout his body. "Happened to be exceptionally talented at hacking too? Another curiosity of yours?"

He couldn't reply. His eyes desperately panned through the group of five in front of him, yet the familiar eyes turned away. _Please, tell them_. He wanted to scream. _Please, tell them I'm innocent_.

He didn't. He _couldn't_. Damn him.

Damn that son of a bitch.

Tears splattered down ungracefully. Frankly, he didn't care.

Even the Gods had turned their backs on him.

And so, the next command wasn't very surprising.

"Kill him."

As the interrogators turned to leave, the door opened to reveal a pair of masked men whose lifeless eyes froze him to the core. In that moment, the meaning of fear became very apparent. Death's claws were hovering over his head, waiting to clamp down. He counted how many minutes he had.

Two? Three?

How many seconds?

He didn't know when he had started crying. His body had gone numb. Every step resonated loudly in his ears. Every sense was amplified. Time had slowed down. He could see the unsheathed blade held casually in one of the man's hands. Like it was an every-day thing as _simple_ as _brushing one's teeth_. He was going to be one of the nameless ones thrown out. To rot, to feed the rodents and snakes.

But why him?

He wanted to laugh, despite the predicament. He didn't have any moments in his life truly worth remembering, to flash before his vision, did he?

Except, of course, _him_.

One of the man stood behind him and grasped his shoulders which were shaking uncontrollably. The one holding the blade crouched down to eye-level. He couldn't look. He couldn't speak.

 _Oh, what would I give to see you. Just once._

The man gently held his chin up. He tightly snapped his eyes shut, breathing in short, laboring gasps.

" **Shh…"**

* * *

 **A/N:** And the story starts off with a bang! Is it Good? Bad? Terrible? This is my first time writing after a long break, so type away. The story is confusing, but everything will become clearer in time being. The pronouns here might be slightly confusing, too, but I used the generic 'He' as I didn't want any names here. Thanks for reading!


	2. Daily Life

If someone asked him what his hobby was, he would say internet-surfing. Tsunayoshi Sawada relished in the feeling of staying behind the screen, yet having everything at his fingertips – as if he was a God. It felt amazing to have someone listen to his every command, even if it wasn't a living, breathing being.

He was addicted to the touch of cool metal beneath his finger, the artificial light blinking in his eyes, the music being blasted through the headphones.

It was his lover, his friend, and his only companion.

He had gotten his laptop almost… four years ago. He had saved up enough of his allowances to afford a state of art Dell computer. He needed it to survive.

Tsuna was known as a failure. A complete idiot. He didn't seem to excel at anything. He barely passed his exams, got hit by balls during P.E, and even drowned in his first swimming lesson. He never had any hobby.

People assumed he was like that from birth. Tsuna himself thought that. But that wasn't true. He was a bright child. His birth had brought joy to the newly-wed couple of Iemitsu and Nana Sawada, and they cherished him like a precious toy.

But soon Iemitsu went back to Italy, where he worked, leaving his wife and baby boy at the meek town of Namimori in Japan. He rarely called, and came once in two or three years. During his brief stay he didn't act much father-like. Tsuna didn't recognize him as father, either. Possibly because the distance really erased the parental bonds between the two?

Nana Sawada wasn't a woman who'd pay heed to such things. She believed children needed food, a warm place to stay and education to grow up to be 'as successful as her husband'. She shopped with her girlfriends, cooked lavish meals, and held fun parties while her shy boy disappeared behind the walls further and further with each passing day.

The first day Tsuna was bullied, he came back home crying, wanting to hop into his mother's arms more than anything. He clutched his bruised arms, and called out his mother's name. Again and again. But the woman had gone shopping an hour ago. After she'd returned, Tsuna had already showered and slept in his room. It was rather unfortunate she didn't notice his pale face.

Negligence and abuse was hurting the little child inside and out. He was slipping before he knew it, away from studies, away from toys, away from parks and away from friends. He was barely six when he decided to conceal himself behind the four walls of his room, and it was the beginning.

He began cutting himself when he was around twelve. It was a way to cope with the pain. To show that he had at least control over his body – he could hurt himself. He was battling crippling depression and anorexia. It never occurred to Nana that while other boys were outgrowing their clothes rapidly, her child was needing a size smaller. She never noticed the uneaten meals.

Around thirteen Tsuna had decided to commit suicide by jumping down from a high-rise building. He had read about it in newspapers – it was painless and flashy. Maybe it could reach his dad too. Maybe. Perhaps they'd get time in the jail as well.

The thought brought smile to his face. As the boy strode briskly towards the high-rise skyscraper, excuse at the ready, something caught his eye. It was an electronics store. Minimalist and modern, the out front was as neon, monochromatic and at the time flashy as it could be. The glass panels allowed a peek inside the impressive display of computers, laptops, notebooks, gaming consoles and other entertainment devices. Tsuna screeched to a halt. He couldn't fathom the reason then, but later attributed it to God.

If He existed, that is.

Tsuna had gone inside the store. Ignoring the disapproving faces of other customers at his appearance, he had picked out a sleek orange and black Dell laptop, with 8 GB ram, 1 terabyte of storage and fashioned with latest additions and asked the price.

It was very high.

However, the laptop seemed to call out to him. Just holding it made him feel nervous and fluttery, not in a bad way. The feeling of smooth, cold metal was comforting. He had put it back down, mentally saying, "I'll get you back, I promise," before walking out and returning to his home.

Since he didn't do anything, his monthly allowances had piled up. Bullies always thought Dame-Tsuna was poor, so they never actually bothered him with money. For the next six months, he had saved up and pick-pocketed some from his mother and bought his metal 'lover' back home.

Tsuna was hooked. It didn't judge him. It didn't berate him. It was just there. Always. Ready for his orders. He was learning so much! It didn't take him much time to pick up computer skills. Tsuna was learning to code in various languages at lightning speed. Slowly he completely immersed himself in that world.

It was at least two years after which he finally got the courage to register at a chatroom called _Cardinal._ It was a premium service, with a whooping three thousand yen monthly fee. But it offered anonymity, and a chance to talk with other nerds, scientists, geeks and very successful men around the world. It had group and singular chat options, and of course it had a random chat option.

Tsuna had made good friends there. Friends who were, no doubt, fooled by his on-screen personality, and friends who wouldn't bat an eyelash to leave if they knew who he was in reality.

It was rather depressing.

So today he went for a random exploration. He tapped the random chat button and patiently waited. The loading icon span for a few moments before stopping. A _ping!_ Sound was heard and Tsuna connected with a stranger.

His name read, simply – _Solare_ – Tsuna struggled to pronounce it. _So-ra-ra-e_?

No profile picture. Then he took a quick glance at the person's profile to find it locked. Not even any mention of gender, age or location. Just a message tab and a button to send a friend request. Most people in Cardinal used the heavy security system to safely contact with others. It wasn't very uncommon.

Realizing he was stalling, Tsuna hastily typed out the most generic greeting ever.

 _Hello!_

Almost instantly, the person replied.

 _Chaos._

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi everyone! Thanks for all reviews, favorites and follows. I hope you liked this chapter. Please review.


	3. Solare

_Realizing he was stalling, Tsuna hastily typed out the most generic greeting ever._

 _ **Hello!**_

 _Almost instantly, the other person replied._

 _ **Chaos.**_

Tsuna's finger halted a centimeter above the keyboard. That was a certainly odd way to greet someone. Internet had its fair share of weird people.

 _How are you?_ He typed. Three blinking dots at the bottom of the chat pane indicated the other person was writing his own reply.

 _Very handsome, tall and dark._

Tsuna laughed aloud at the response. _Haha. Yeah, right. Though I was asking about how your day was going._

 _Mmm… my day always goes well._

Very confident answer. _I have no doubt._ Tsuna wrote back.

Seen, but no reply. The silence was awkward. Since he was wondering about the name, Tsuna decided to ask,

 _So, Solare-san, where are you from?_

 _Italy._

Wow. That was unexpected, seeing the man was native-level-fluent in Japanese.

 _Really? But you are really great in Japanese! Are you interested in language?_

 _Mastering the 13_ _th_ _most popular language in the world is necessary when you work in my field. I know more than twenty, actually._

 _Whoa! That sounds so cool!_ Tsuna wrote back, excited. While a part of his mind nagged that the man was clearly bluffing, something about the way he phrased his words seemed… solid. _I barely pass my English class._

Suddenly he regretted writing that. He had presented himself online as someone highly intellectual, charming and sophisticated. He wasn't _that_ widely known, but if this person was to know he was a kid, now that'd be embarrassing.

 _I mean I used to. Lol. Those days were painful._

Solare took a little bit of time to respond. However he had switched to English.

 _Lying is worse than being a loser_ _ **.**_

Tsuna scrunched his eyebrows and copied the sentence in Google translate. The translation was terrible as usual – saying a lie was bad to lose – which made no sense.

Not wanting to make a bigger fool of himself, he wrote, _Sorry? I didn't catch that._

 _It just means that you still suck at English classes, kid._ Tsuna's heart almost stopped. How did the other person know his age? He could lie, but one had already been caught and he had a nagging feeling Solare would catch his next one as well.

 _How did you know?_

 _Know what?_

Tsuna gritted his teeth in annoyance. _You know what I mean._

 _Nope, I don't._

He was purposefully making this as difficult as possible, wasn't he? With a light blush covering his cheeks, Tsuna wrote, _how did you know about my age?_

 _Just guessed. Was it right?_

Slamming his fists on the keyboard, Tsuna considered logging out there and then.

 _Not really._ He replied. _Was just playing along to see how your psychic abilities would reveal themselves._

 _Oh? Why was there a delay in response then?_

Oh, he was a persistent _prick_.

 _Internet lag._

 _Ah, I see._

Tsuna could totally hear his chuckles in background.

 _Would you like to hear more 'psychic revelations' then?_ Solare asked.

Heck, no.

 _Yeah, sure._ He replied, despite internally screaming in the negative.

 _If you lie, you lose._ Solare warned.

 _Yeah, yeah. Got it._

 _Number One –_ There was a dramatic pause. _– You are a kid, possibly between the ages fifteen to nineteen._

 _Number Two – You reside around Kanto region, in outskirts of Tokyo._

 _Number Three – You seem to be highly protective of your ego, which leads me to the conclusion that you have low self-confidence and –_

Tsuna couldn't read the rest of Solare's 'revelations' because he had already disconnected the chat. He threw the laptop away and flopped down like a dead fish, beads of sweat pooling on his forehead. His heart was beating like he'd run a marathon. Pressing his shaking hands to his face, Tsuna took a deep breath.

But he couldn't calm the fuck down. Because _fucking_ _hell_ that person was _so right_ and he had no way of knowing – that person he'd talked to for _just a few minutes_ – and he had used carefully chosen words – he had –!

 _So,_ _ **why**_ _?_

Snarling uncharacteristically, Tsuna threw the alarm clock resting on his bed-side table to the adjacent wall. He regretted that instantly when the expensive timer shattered into bits with a loud sound.

"Fuck."

Tsuna took the battery out of the laptop, cutting the power supply off, and harshly shoved the device inside his wardrobe. He glanced at his phone and found the time to be 5 AM. Sighing, he pulled his comforter over his tired, malnourished body and closed his eyes.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, it was already eleven in the morning. His room was still dark and cold, thanks to the heavy, light-absorbing curtains that were installed. Tsuna yawned languidly, and got up.

His head spun at the sudden motion. His belly rumbled, notifying that nothing had entered it since yesterday, and his room stank of body odor. Tsuna could do nothing but sigh again. Everything reminded him about the grim occurrence with the stranger the previous night.

It was… scary yet intriguing at the same time.

Before long, Tsuna had taken a shower and eaten a 'meal' consisting of cold chicken and potato chips and he was back in his bed. Headphones in place, mouse in hand, he opened Cardinal and checked his conversation history.

There it was. Glaring back at him in all glory –

(#44930) Random Conversation: **Individual** – Solare. (Status: Inactive)

Time: 4:55 AM (GMT +9) Date: XX-XX-20XX

Gulping, Tsuna tapped on the username. He was redirected to that blank profile. Completely encrypted and locked away from the public eye. He closed his eyes and tapped on the first button.

He had sent that man a friend request.

Yes, he was definitely going mad.

Tsuna focused his attention elsewhere. He shuffled through his notifications, noticing them mostly to be game invitations and group chat updates from his friends. He replied to some of the messages. Here he knew people from many regions of Japan. Many were students just like him, others were from different professions.

A sudden message _ping_! Distracted from his thoughts.

Oh, it was his best friend. Tsuna smiled.

 _Baseball-freak80 has messaged you._ He tapped at the pop-up, expanding it to show the chat bar.

 _Yo, Tuna27!_

 _Hey! What's up?_

 _I'm pretty cool. Just got back from baseball practice. Remember the match tomorrow?_

 _Oh, yeah! That's right._ His friend was a sucker for baseball. His team had been selected for regional tournament, and the first match was going to happen tomorrow. _I'm sure your team is going to win._

 _Haha, we're gonna ace it. I've prepped really hard for this one. I wished you could come over and see!_

 _Me too._ Tsuna typed. He really wanted to know who Baseball-freak80 was in real life. He really wanted to hang out with him. But would he meet the latter's expectations was the biggest question. _I'll still be cheering for you._

 _Thanks a lot, man._

 _No problem._

 _By the way, how's your day going?_

 _It's going fine. But a really weird thing happened last night._

 _Really? What happened?_

 _Well… I met this super creepy guy yesterday. Like he was sprouting out things about me, stuff he shouldn't know. I was so scared I closed the chat._

He didn't mention today's development, of course.

 _God, that sounds bad. Internet is filled with crazy folks nowadays, haha._

 _I know, right?_

 _What did he say, though?_

Tsuna winced. _Ah… just random shit. Nothing important. It was just really creepy._

 _Oh ok. Hey, my old man's calling me for something. I'll talk to you later._

 _Sure. Bye! And all the best!_

 _Thanks! Bye!_

Tsuna leaned back against his pillows and exited the chat window. Oh, it was another notification. When had it come?

His heart skipped a beat when he saw it was from Solare. He had accepted his friend request, and was currently online. Tsuna clicked his profile, but found out that no information was still shown to him, despite his current status as a friend.

 _Chaos. Having fun looking at my profile?_

Tsuna literally _shrieked_ , almost throwing off his laptop in surprise as the message popped up in big, bold fonts, blinking and spinning around the screen like it wanted to induce a seizure and then transformed into a gaudy green chameleon who flicked his tongue at him before disappearing.

He gritted his teeth.

That – that darned _troll_.

It was a fucking _welcome_ _message_.

But why, exactly, did he feel so exposed?

* * *

 **A/N** : Aaaaand here comes Yamamoto!

Sherlock!Reborn and Potty-mouth!Tsuna for the win. A seventeen year old Tuna-fish can't be an innocent unicorn, right? Reborn was _crazy_ to write. A little angst going on here, which will hopefully cure soon with a touch of espresso ;)

Thank you so much for the support. Please leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. Treading on Thin Lines

After recovering from that sordid surprise Solare had planted in his profile for unsuspecting passersby to get a heart attack, Tsuna tapped on the message icon and prayed to God lest he be humiliated further.

It seemed God didn't care much for skeptics, because, the other man had already beaten him to the punch.

 _Recovered from the blow, have you, kid? Hah. You got quite a nerve._

Okay, that _was_ an actual message. Blanching, Tsuna replied, _I have no idea what you mean. By the way, your welcome message was freaking lame._

 _Is it because you shit your pants?_

 _No, it's because your comebacks stink like that._

 _Check your pants first,_ _ **kid**_ _. You just might have a case of explosive diarrhea._

Tsuna never regretted his life's decisions more than this very moment. _Can we stop this now?_

 _Say 'please'._

 _Fuck you._

 _I'm sure you'd love to, but I'm not much into wimpy kids._

Tsuna forcibly disconnected the chat window for the second time that day; steaming, sweating, fuming and blushing furiously at the same time. That man was so…! He pulled at his hair crossly – Tsunayoshi Sawada _never_ got mad at someone.

Okay. He would definitely unfriend Solare the next time.

Totally.

When he looked at his laptop window again, he had to do a double take. An unknown file had somehow bypassed his firewall, anti-virus _and_ anti-malware, and was seconds away from finishing downloading. The name read: _Devil's Punishment._

 _Sweet baby Jesus._

Frantically trying to cancel the download, Tsuna found his screen to be unresponsive to any command. The download finished. Being an auto-run application, it began to work its magic instantly.

Firstly, his screen darkened horror movie-style. Soon, Tsuna began to notice… a sound. Deep breathing? Each passing second it got louder and louder. To his horror, the breathing revealed to be actually _moaning_ – like _hardcore_ pornography moaning. His headphones were freaking useless, and Tsuna could do nothing but clasp his ears shut and pray his mother to not come.

Then the sounds stopped abruptly. His heart pounding, Tsuna neared his laptop hoping the ordeal to be over.

Oh, he was _so_ mistaken.

A woman with mangled features and blood dripping out of her mouth popped out, and shrieked at Tsuna at the top of her lungs, wildly clawing at him as if she would tear the screen open and crawl onto his bed. Tsuna screamed even harder and crashed onto the floor with a tangled comforter, pillows and laptop on top of him. His head hit something hard and everything went dark.

* * *

 _I hate you._ Tsuna wrote. He winced as he massaged his sore forehead, which was red and bloated due to a collision with the bedside table. _I was out two hours._

 _Great. You deserved it._

 _I did not! You were being an ass!_

 _I suggest you to keep your mouth shut unless you want more of my collection to be transferred. I assure you, I won't run out anytime soon._

 _No, thank you._ Tsuna sighed blearily. This man truly enjoyed tormenting innocent teenagers, didn't he? Though, he couldn't deny that the man was very good at rigging things. To create an application so convincing as to fool three premium protection services was no easy task.

 _Can you tell me how you created that? From a technical point it seemed very well-made. And…_ Tsuna wriggled his nose as the debugger returned an error. The file had disappeared. _And it just vanished._

 _Probably because you tried to decrypt it. It's designed that way._

 _That's… incredible. You can actually code too?_

 _Yep._

 _What exactly do you do, Solare?_

 _Well I do a lot of things. I'm basically a freelancer._

 _I see. I guess that explains… sorta. Will you tell me how you did that? I'm really interested in programming. I know JavaScript, Python, C++ and PHP._

Solare took a small time to respond. But he didn't disappoint Tsuna.

 _I suppose I can make an exception this time, kid._ He replied.

 _Though these languages won't let you create that file. I combined several of the languages and added an integration feature. It directly connects to the other user's network and it fools protection software by…_

* * *

Groaning, Tsuna stretched his sore arms and back. Hours had passed before he knew it. Solare hadn't turned out to be such a bully when he was focusing on teaching programming, and Tsuna had wrapped himself around the other man's fingers, absorbing information like a sponge. However when Tsuna had messed something up and messaged him about it, Solare replied with such insults he wouldn't dare utter. _Ever_.

But today was probably the most enjoyable day of his life, despite the disastrous circumstances happening initially. _Thank you, Solare-san. I really enjoyed it._

Solare sent a smirk emoji in reply. Tsuna smiled. _Maybe we could continue some other time?_

 _If I feel like it._

Tsuna's smile got bigger. _That's the spirit!_

 _Don't get too comfortable,_ _ **kiddo**_ _._

 _Yeah, yeah. I get it. You don't have to bold it._ Tsuna wrote. Feeling drowsy after so much interaction, he added, _It's really late here, Solare-san. I'll have to go now._

 _Hmm. Okay._

 _Goodnight! And take care._

His message was seen, but no reply was given. Oh, well. Tsuna sighed in content and switched off his laptop. He climbed down the stairs to grab a quick snack, and wondered about Nana. He hadn't seen or heard her for about two days now…

She was probably sleeping. Tsuna shrugged and went back to his room with a plate of cookies. Munching on the baked goods, his mind swiftly flashed through the data he had learnt today. If only he could study Computer Engineering. Tsuna laughed at the thought. He was too stupid to pass school, let alone enter a good university. He was only good with coding and creating things. Theory would go over his head.

Maybe all of his teachers didn't think he was a crazy mess, Tsuna would fare a little better? Who knew?

Pushing away the negative thoughts, Tsuna closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

He wanted to talk to Solare… again.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for the support! Please review if you enjoyed the chapter.


	5. My Army to Save

The next few days were exhilarating. For five consecutive days he had skipped school and spent every waking hour in front of his computer, learning information from Solare. He had only moved when the other man had roughly ordered him to go – eat, shower and _go_ to sleep; or Solare himself had something to take care of.

Solare had taught him much beyond the scope of what normal books or tutorials could teach. He seemed to have greater knowledge on a broader range of topics than Tsuna had ever encountered on the deep web. Which lead to the inevitable question –

Who, exactly, was Solare?

The man refused to give a direct answer. He gave vague replies such as being a contract-based worker. It was confusing. Tsuna didn't press further. He was terrified of Solare.

While it took Tsuna a long time to warm up to someone, whether online or in real life, he had pathetically spilled his guts in three days to the man. He had stripped himself bare without withholding an inch of information. Solare had simply _listened_. He didn't offer any sympathy or advice. Heck, he didn't even ask for the facts – Tsuna _needed_ to tell him.

After so long of bottling his thoughts away from others, it felt _so_ good to tell someone about it.

Tsuna was on cloud nine. He was so happy that he could fly. Today he was wrapping up a simple Bot program Solare had asked him to compose. It was just for practice, though.

Tsuna was already envisioning the future where he would be creating Bots for multi-national companies.

Was it even possible for someone to inspire 'Useless-Tsuna' to such a degree that he was beginning to have plans for a future? Solare had brushed the compliment off with saying that if someone didn't have the potential, they wouldn't be inspired.

Those sentences warmed his shriveled, scared heart.

Joy was something that was to foreign to Tsuna. But he felt it every moment while the man was teaching him. After zipping and mailing the file through Cardinal, Tsuna parted his curtains and looked down from the window.

The empty, plain roads glanced back at him. His mother was returning from the supermarket, groceries in hand. Tsuna didn't want to think of his parents. But they came up too often on his mind. As the door shut and his mother disappeared from view, Tsuna looked the other way and saw a group of pre-teens walking. They were coming back from practice, judging from their sweaty faces and baseball equipment on their backs.

Something felt… off.

Tsuna finally understood the reason his guts were acting up weirdly since yesterday.

His best friend's regional competitions had started at least five days ago and Tsuna had never even _bothered_ to ask how he was doing. How could he forget? He felt so ashamed!

With the appearance of Solare he hadn't even bothered to check notifications – and now…!

Tsuna sped to his laptop and re-opened the Cardinal. He searched through the mess of spam emails, chain letters and group invites and found it.

To his dismay, there were at least _twenty_ messages from Baseballfreak80, the last one being from yesterday afternoon. Tsuna shakily opened the chat box.

The oldest message was that they had won the first match. Then the next message was asking if he was okay or not, because he hadn't been online the whole day.

After that Baseballfreak had informed him another win, leading them to the semi-finals, which were supposed to be held on xx aka… _yesterday_. Then every message was inquiring his whereabouts… till the point they sounded almost desperate. Tsuna felt something wet prick his eyes. Tears dripped onto his precious laptop but he wasn't in the mind to wipe them off. He was so disgusted.

Finally, Tsuna scrolled down to the last message.

It was a voice mail.

His guts lurched when his mouse hovered over the play button. They had never communicated via voice mail. Why was he sending one now? Maybe he was going to the finals?

That… that had to be true, right?

After a second of static, Tsuna heard a strong, but pleasant male voice fill his ear buds. It was young. But why was it shaking?

"H-hey. How are you? I've been trying to reach you… what happened? I hope you're fine. I'm really worried. Uh, you must be wondering why I suddenly decided to send a voice message, right? Haha. Well…" The voice paused to cough. Then he laughed, sounding rather strained.

"Oh, sorry about that. Actually, man, you know, you're the best friend I ever had. I mean it sucks not to know real names and all… but you're still the most genuine friend I've ever had. I mean it."

"Am I ranting? Haha, my head's such a mess… Hah. Well, my name is Takeshi. Spelled with the kanji for army. And my last name is Yamamoto. Spelled with the kanji for honor."

Baseballfreak80, no… Takeshi stopped for some time. It sounded as he was taking a drink.

"The thing is, I'm going to be gone now. That's why I've decided to send you… one last message. I wished I could've talked to you, man, but you're not here, so thought a voice message would be better than some stupid text. Actually, I… broke my arm before the semi. I was riding my bike to home when I hit some rock, slipped and fell. And… well… I – we… our team…"

Tsuna already knew what was going to be said next.

"Man… oh man, our team _lost_."

After that there was only quiet breaths in the background. Takeshi was trying his hardest to not cry.

"…Ah. Sorry, man. You must be getting bored, right? Haha. Okay. So I'm going to make this short. I made my life seem so much fun, didn't I? To tell you the truth… baseball was the only thing that gave me hope. People befriended me only cos I could play and was pretty good-looking, you know? You were my only friend."

"And… and now that I can't play… I've got nothing. My teammates screwed me over… and I really don't think I can drag on further. Sorry, mate. I'm so, so sorry… I wished I knew your name. I-I wished you could see me play… I wished I could talk to you. Once, for real. But … this is farewell."

"… _Sayonara_. Take care, live life to the fullest. Don't end up like me, okay?"

There was a hopeless laugh fading away in the background as the audio clip came to a halt.

Tsuna was paralyzed.

 _This is farewell._

 _Don't end up like me, okay?_

 _This is farewell._

 _This is farewell._

 _This is farewell._

 _This is farewell._

 _ **NO!**_

"No!" Tsuna screamed in anguish and bashed his hand against the wall. "No! Don't fuck with me! Don't leave me… _Takeshi_!"

"I'm going to save you. I swear I'm going to see you."

He didn't know if he had any time.

But he would not let his friend die.

Never.

Tsuna's mind was blank, and he fumbled over commands as he tried to get Takeshi's access routes. He couldn't. That guy had such a great security – he had no damn idea! Tsuna couldn't even see properly because he was crying like a baby. He forgot what he had to do, and his limbs shook.

There was only another person he could reach right now.

Solare.

 _Please, I beg you, find his location. Tell me where he's coming from!_

 _I'm doing it, idiot! Give me a fucking second._

Tsuna had shattered every piggy bank he had and dug out every single bit of money he had with lightning speed. He would bolt the second he had Takeshi's location. He clawed at his own face. Each second felt like his own life was being taken away. Too long.

Damn it!

Finally there was a _ping_! Of an incoming message.

 _XXX, Take-Sushi, Namimori, XXX._

 _Go!_

Takeshi lived right fucking next to him! Tsuna sprinted down the stairs and out of his home. He was running at a speed he didn't know he possessed. The wind slapped against his cheeks as he took quick turns around the familiar paths, pushing away people he couldn't care less for.

Roughly ten minutes had passed when Tsuna burst through the gates of the sushi restaurant, startling customers who looked at him with wide eyes.

He looked like a violent beast.

 _Take-Sushi… if he was Takeshi Yamamoto, and he lived here… he must be the owner's son._

Tsuna rushed over to the counter and asked desperately, "W-who is Mr. Takeshi?"

A kind, middle-aged man quickly came over and said, "That's me. What's wrong, boy?"

"Is T-Takeshi, Yamoto Takeshi your son? H-he likes baseball a lot and he broke his arm and – and his team was in a regional tournament!"

Mr. Takeshi was speechless. Slowly, then, he nodded. "That's… my son. Yes. Why?"

"Where is he!?" Tsuna screamed, almost grabbing the man by his collar. Other patrons were coming up behind him, ready to hold him back whenever necessary. He was almost hysterical. "Please! Tell me! He's in danger!"

"T-Takeshi went back to his school minutes ago! It's just past this block – Namimori Boy's High School – what happened?"

That was all Tsuna needed. He turned around and zoomed past the guests and yelled to 'make path'.

Where he developed this courage, he didn't know. Tsuna ran like a madman. People scrambled away not to collide with the 'lunatic' as he dashed inside the alley, nearly clashing into walls and posts midway and soon came to a stop in front of Namimori Boy's High School.

School day was already over. So the school compound was devoid of any people. Thankfully Namimori was a safe town where people didn't really lock their gates, so Tsuna pushed over the iron-clad gates and went inside.

"Takeshi!" He yelled in a hoarse voice. "Takeshi! Are you there? It's me! Your friend!"

His legs were giving away. His throat was so dry and he was sweating so much and his heart was pounding so hard Tsuna felt like he was dying. He wanted to collapse on the wet, grassy terrain but he knew he had no choice.

If he wanted to save his first friend he had to _go_ _on_.

Fuck, he hadn't encountered such a horrible situation ever in his life.

Shuddering with each step, Tsuna heaved himself through the stairs. "Please answer, Takeshi! It's me!"

He almost slipped and fell once and desperately grasped the iron railings at last second. Finally the door to the roof came into view and Tsuna threw it open.

The angled sunlight hit him square in the eyes and Tsuna almost fell once more.

When he was finally able to see, he found a lean, tall boy staring back at him in utmost surprise.

"Takeshi!"

* * *

 **A/N** : Friendship is such an integral aspect in KHR that this chapter was absolutely exhilarating to write. Tsuna is an amazing soul, and he found equally amazing people who'd follow him to death. The people who bullied him didn't matter, would never matter. I want to shed some light on these issues with my stories. They are dreadful matters threatening our youth right now!

On a lighter note, I love that people from all around the world is reading this story. My story isn't great, but it's astounding that the chapter I'm writing in my bedroom is actually reaching a global audience! Thank you so much for all the love and support.


	6. Life Goes On

_When Tsuna was finally able to see, he found a lean, tall boy staring back at him in utmost surprise._

" _Takeshi!"_

The boy flinched at the mention of his name and stepped back. Tsuna took a step forward. It was a while before any of them spoke up. Tsuna stared at Takeshi, not knowing what to do.

He looked like any generic Japanese boy. He was tall and lean, with short black hair that was slightly spiky and wide, black eyes. He had an athletic built from playing baseball so long, but his right arm was put up in a sling, signifying the disastrous crash.

"W-who are you?" Takeshi asked confusedly.

"I'm…" Tsuna paused. Because introducing oneself as Tunafish27 was incredibly embarrassing. "I'm your best friend."

Takeshi drew a sharp breath. "You're…"

"Yeah, I am… him." Tsuna replied, looking down. "You wanted to know my real name. Tt's Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi Sawada. You can call me Tsuna, though."

He received no reply. He snapped his head up. "T-Takeshi?" The other boy was still scrutinizing him silently. "What's… wrong?"

"How did you find me?" Takeshi asked.

"I tracked your access routes…" Tsuna replied. "I-I live in Namimori, too."

Then the boy laughed. Softly. Then gradually it got louder and louder. There were tears in his eyes for laughing so long. Tsuna concernedly walked closer.

"It's so funny, isn't it?" Takeshi said. "We've been living this close together, and didn't even know it."

Tsuna nodded helplessly.

"But… Tsuna, right? You shouldn't have come." Takeshi said, his voice so low Tsuna couldn't hear him. "I said it was farewell."

"What do you mean by it is farewell?" Tsuna said harshly. "You think… you think you can just tell me how good of a friend I was and take the decision to take your life and –"

"It's _my_ life, Tsuna." Takeshi said. "I've thought about it long and hard. It's my decision. Please respect that."

"Respect that!? Are you crazy? If you – if you really thought I was your friend, how could you just take the safe way out? How could you just say goodbye and leave me alone?"

"You have many other friends, Tsuna. It'll be fine." Takeshi replied, smiling slightly.

Tsuna shook his head and felt tears well in the corner of his eyes. "No, that's not true!" He said. "I-I lied too, Takeshi. I don't have any friends. I'm lonelier than you ever could be. So please don't leave me like this! You'll be able to play baseball again when your arm heals. You'll find new teammates! So don't go. Please!"

"Tsuna…" Takeshi said and slowly came forward. Tsuna was crying, unable to contain his emotions any further, hiding his face behind him palms. The other boy clasped his arms around Tsuna and hugged him tightly. "Don't cry. I'm really glad I met you."

"Promise me that you wouldn't try to do that again!"

Takeshi stayed silent for a moment before unlatching his arms and standing up. "Sorry, Tsuna." He said, smiling. "I can't promise that."

Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise as Takeshi suddenly sprinted away from him. He was going towards the railings. Screaming unintelligibility, he ran after the boy.

Takeshi was standing on the railings, his face fearless. Gusts of wind blew his hair and clothes. He looked down at Tsuna and shook his head.

"Stop, Tsuna." He said firmly.

Panting, Tsuna wrapped his weak arms around one of Takeshi's legs. "I-if you jump, I jump too." He said and shakily pulled himself on top the ledge. Takeshi gasped in surprise and grabbed a hold of him.

"T-Tsuna!"

Tsuna stared at the boy in determination. "If you want to go, let's go together."

A choked sob escaped Takeshi's lips. "Tsuna… you don't know anything." He said, looking away.

"I want to know, Takeshi. I think I deserve to know more about the person who I'm calling best friend." Tsuna said, putting one foot back on the floor. He cautiously pulled on Takeshi's arm.

"Come on. I haven't watched you play, either."

The latter shook his head again.

"Takeshi, please…"

Meanwhile Tsuna was sharply eyeing his surroundings, waiting for Takeshi's father or others to come. If he could pull him down, the others could support him. However his body was weak from not being used, and he didn't know how long he could hold back.

"I mean more to you than your teammates, do I not?"

It was an intense staring session. Takeshi's black eyes peered into Tsuna honey-brown ones, and both of them refused to back down.

In the end, the latter gave in to Tsuna. Takeshi sighed blearily. His shoulders slumped. He obeyed Tsuna's orders wordlessly and came down. He flopped down against the wall.

Tsuna slowly sat down beside him. They settled into a comfortable silence, before it was soon broken by a group of people calling Takeshi's name and the door to the rooftop opened again. Both of the boys turned to look and found Takeshi's father and some other workers from the restaurant.

"Old man!" Takeshi yelled in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Tsuyoshi Yamamoto didn't reply, his concerned gaze washing over the boys. "Are you alright?" He asked then.

Biting his lips, Takeshi looked away and mumbled, "I'm fine…"

"Let's go home."

"Yeah." Takeshi said. He brightened up and looked at Tsuna, "Remember, my Old man makes great sushi? Today you get to try them, Tsuna!"

Tsuna smiled.

"I can't wait."

* * *

Weeks had gotten past after the hellish ordeal. Tsuna and Takeshi had gotten to know each other much better, and they regularly visited each other's homes. Takeshi had apparently made up with his father, too, and the boy was faring much better. The doctor told that Takeshi would be able to play basketball again if his arm properly healed. All in all, everything was going amazing.

Tsuna had thanked Solare profusely. He told him everything in detail, but the other man only gave the thumbs up in reply. Tsuna was beginning to understand his language, and in turn, Solare was warming up to him.

He finally had two friends who cared about him. With Solare's pestering, he had even started going to school. Yamamoto helped him with schoolwork. The drastic improvement of the boy's abilities came as a shock to everyone involved.

But he was happy. And that was all that mattered.

When he took off his shirt every afternoon, no new bruises were appearing. The horizontal gashes in his wrists were getting older. His ribs were not as prominent as before. The pitch black spots under his eyes were greying fast and there was a light smile in his face whenever he looked at himself.

* * *

 **A/N** : Hi guys! How was this chapter? Please review. Also, did you check out the new cover photo? The images were taken from an amazing DeviantArt Artist AR-UA, do check them out, they have a plethora of awesome anime paintings. As always, thanks a bunch for the love and support.


	7. Timeout

"Hey, Takeshi! Have you heard about the Cardinal Global Convention?" Tsuna said excitedly.

"Yeah! I'm thinking of going. The ticket's pretty cheap too, haha." Takeshi replied from the other side of the phone. Tsuna grinned in response as he inputted information on his laptop.

"Mm. I'm actually pre-booking it right now. Cardinal has a good base around Japan, so tickets are super limited! I wonder who else would come…"

One summer had passed and another had come since Tsuna met up with Takeshi. It was finally time for another Global Convention of Cardinal. They were going to be held in major cities of the world, Tokyo being one of them. Tsuna had not dared to venture to earlier conventions, his fear of rejection too strong to even consider the possibility. But he was getting along better, and with a friend on his side, he wasn't going to miss the fun event.

Despite the encrypted nature of Cardinal, many folks were interested in IRL meets and exchanged information regularly, so the conventions were huge events with many programs to entertain the masses.

Many of Tsuna's friends on Cardinal said they would certainly attend. He was euphoric on the thought of making newer friends. Though he was constantly improving, Tsuna was as socially awkward as ever outside his tiny familiar circle, and people at school didn't accept him. That was fine, because he intended on freelancing later in life, anyways.

The one person Tsuna had not asked yet was Solare-san, because he had been absent very frequently from Cardinal due to work pressure. He wondered if he would even come – the man lived on the other side of the world!

He really wanted to meet Solare more than ever, because they spent so much time together it made him a little sad not to. However Solare was extremely secretive. Tsuna knew nothing about the other except for the fact that he was 'drop-dead gorgeous'. He had even tried to hack into Solare's computer once, ending up with a pretty nasty virus that deleted his gigabytes of games and assignment data and Tsuna was left moping for weeks.

* * *

Finally the chance came ten days before the convention.

Solare was online!

Tsuna instantly hit him up. _Solare-san! Finally! Where were you gone for so long?_

Biting his fingernails in anticipation, Tsuna rehearsed the pleadings in his mind over and over again – he had planned the excuses and words extremely well (Takeshi had helped too, actually).

Solare did not respond right away.

 _I had work to do._ He replied shortly after a good fifteen minutes. Tsuna pouted.

 _You know how much I missed you? What did you do, venture into the Amazon?_

 _Something like that. What do you need me for?_

Okay, this was the hard part. Tsuna felt prickling sensation all over his skin as he typed out his answer.

 _Well… it's not really something. But I kinda wanted to ask you something._

 _Well, go ahead. Remember, no love confessions._

 _Agh, God, No! Solare-san, you're horrible!_

 _I know, thank you._

 _So... um, is your work done?_

 _Yep, I'm free for a couple of days. Want to learn another language?_

 _Oh, um, no. I mean, that's great. But that's not I was going to ask…_

Ah, he was messing up so bad.

 _Spit it out already, dummy._

 _Well… have you heard of the global convention of Cardinal? It's going to be held in most major cities, like New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Rome etc…_

 _Mm. What about it?_

 _I was thinking about attending it this year… at Tokyo. I've booked tickets already._

 _I see._

 _Yeah… I'm really excited about it. A lot of my friends are going to be attending!_

 _Good._

 _I heard Cardinal is really popular in Italy too… you have many friends too, right?_

 _Yes._

 _Are they going to attend?_

 _Don't know. Didn't ask. Why?_

Well, here went nothing. Tsuna held his breath and typed out,

 _Um, Solare-san, could you come too, please? Maybe in Tokyo? O-or I can try coming to Rome! I've been talking to you for so long and I really want to meet you in real life. So… um…_

The reply was instant.

 _No._

 _Why not? At least think about it!_

 _I don't like to repeat myself. I won't come. Not now, not ever._

Tsuna was disheartened. He didn't think Solare-san would be so upfront about it. _But… can you at least tell me why?_

 _No. I don't want to explain myself. And one more thing._

 _Yes…?_

 _I've found some crappy security defects in Cardinal. I reported it to the administrators, but they are too stupid and won't fix anything. So I'm going to quit this._

Tsuna stared wide-eyed at the white screen, not believing what he saw.

 _You can't be serious!_

Solare didn't reply. Tsuna didn't understand why these things always happened to him. He wanted to pull out his hair in frustration.

 _Solare-san! How can you suddenly leave? At least give me your email or something!_

 _It's for your best interest if we don't keep in contact._ Solare replied.

 _Oh, come on, Solare-san. This is another of your pranks. Cut it out._

 _I talked to you in my free time and taught you because I had nothing better to do._

 _But…!_

 _But you better keep what I taught you in mind. And not fuck up. I'm not someone to become friends with, Tsuna. Don't try to dig dirt, do you understand?_

Did Solare-san just… say his real name?

 _H-how do you know my name!?_

 _I know too many things. Now you must do these things…_

Just like that, his friendship with Solare-san had come to an abrupt halt. Tsuna dutifully removed his entire chat history with Solare and cleaned every data they'd shared, just liked the man had instructed. It left a bitter hole in his heart. Tsuna had become distant once again, and wrapped himself up in his little cocoon.

* * *

"Maybe you'll meet him again, Tsuna." Takeshi said gently, as they sat in a gaming café looking out the window. Tsuna was unhappily drinking his smoothie. "I don't think he'd like you to look like a raccoon, haha."

Tsuna nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah… honor our relationship…or something like that. Right, Takeshi?"

"Y-yeah."

"Which manga is that from?"

"Er… Fairy Tail," Takeshi said, grinning sheepishly. "On the other hand, that convention wasn't too bad, was it, Tsuna?"

"It was nice." Tsuna admitted. "Meeting Sasagawa-san and Dokuro-chan was great. I had no idea he was Kyoko-chan's brother!"

"Haha, you're right! It's a small world, isn't it?"

After Solare had cut off communication, Tsuna had lost interest in attending the convention. Only with Takeshi's god-like persuasion skills and _lots_ of sushi had he managed to stir him out of his little bubble. In that convention they had become good friends with two people they'd met on Cardinal – Ryohei Sasagawa, who was a boxer-in-training, and the big brother of Tsuna's crush. He had a bright and vibrant personality – slightly intimidating Tsuna – but Takeshi went along just fine.

Secondly they'd met a young girl named Chrome Dokuro, who was really shy and had just gotten out of hospital. She was really awkward at first. But she was such a good soul, Tsuna liked her a lot. In the end they exchanged contacts and promised to stay in touch in real life.

"I'm really grateful you're my friend, Takeshi." Tsuna said suddenly. "I probably would have never gotten the courage to go out without you…"

"You saved my life, Tsuna." Takeshi said, slapping him on the back. At that time Tsuna's phone began to ring noisily. He took it out.

It was Nana.

"Mom?" Tsuna answered. "What's it?"

"Ah, Tsu-kun!" She said, giggling happily. "Could you come home please? I've got great news!" His mother was practically gushing in bliss! Tsuna winced slightly at the sound volume and mumbled a reply, cutting the call. He could guess the reason…

Looking at Takeshi apologetically, Tsuna said, "Sorry. I've to go. My mom wants something…"

Takeshi shook his head. "No problem," He replied with his signature grin plastered over his face, "Go home. We'll catch up later!"

"Bye, Takeshi."

Paying the bills, they both exited the café and went separate ways. Tsuna sighed slightly. His guts were lurching in unease again. His mother was only this happy when…

 _That_ man was coming to visit.

The last thing Tsuna wanted was to see _him._

* * *

 **A/N** : Hey! Can you guess who's the guy? (Of course you can, lol I'm so much crappy). How was this chapter? Do you think the storyline is going a little too fast? Should I slow down a bit? Please feel free to give constructive criticism. Your love and support gives me the energy to write. Thank you, everyone!


	8. Invitation to Hell

Tsuna stepped inside his home and shut the door loudly to announce his presence. "I'm back," He mumbled as he took off his shoes. Nana came out of the living room with a white envelope in her hand, and beamed at him.

"Tsu-kun! Look what Papa has sent!" She said, coming closer and handed it to Tsuba.

 _I knew it._

He kept his face carefully indifferent, thinking ' _not_ _interested'_ but didn't vocalize his opinions.

"What is it?" He said, taking the envelope. It had already been opened. Two tickets and a letter came out of it. Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise.

It was a pair of plane tickets. First Class flights to Palermo, in three days.

Filthy-rich bastard. This was one of the reasons Tsuna hated him even more. Being so busy piling money that he never had enough time for his only family.

" _Mama, what does Papa do?"_

" _Tsu-kun, Papa works in a biiiig construction company."_

" _Where is it, Mama?"_

" _In_ _ **Sicily**_ _, Tsu-kun. It's so beautiful! I have photos, Tsu-kun. Here, look!"_

" _Ah! So cool! When will we visit papa, mama?"_

" _I don't know, Tsu-kun… very soon, don't worry."_

His… _father's_ workplace.

How many years had it been? Tsuna didn't remember the last time he came home or the last time he had called.

Tsuna shook his head. This should've been expected already. Resisting the urge to cringe, he turned to the letter. It was scribbled pristinely in beautiful Japanese fonts. His father had handwriting akin to fresh pearls out of water. Ha, he said it.

" _My lovely Nana,_

 _How are you, darling? I'm doing great. I hope you're well too. You must miss me a lot. Oh, how I miss you too, honey. I miss you so much…"_

His eyes _burned_. Tsuna moved to the next paragraph.

" _Since I can't come right now, I sent you some tickets. You know how to board the plane, right, sweetheart? Remember our honeymoon? Bring Tsuna too. I'm sure he misses his papa too. Ah. I've planned so many things to do together. I…"_

 _Miss you my ass._ He thought angrily

He quickly stuffed everything back inside the envelope and returned it to Nana's eager hands. "I… I'll be upstairs."

"Aren't you excited to see your papa?" Nana asked, frowning slightly at his uncaring face. Tsuna flinched and nodded hastily.

"Y-yeah… I am. Excited. _Totally_." He said, scratching his cheek as he turned to leave.

"Make sure you pack well, Tsu-kun!" She called out, with a large smile that Tsuna rarely saw directed at him, "Tell me if you need anything!" He nodded wordlessly and climbed up the stairs to his room.

Slowly sliding down before he reached the floor, Tsuna leaned against the closed door, feeling the touch of wood against his body. Taking a deep breath, he let it out. His shoulder slumped slightly at the motion. He let his eyelids droop.

 _You lose your cool, you lose your life._ Solare had told him one day. _Whenever you're stuck somewhere, forget everything. Breathe in. Hold it, and breathe out._

A single tear fell. Tsuna wiped it away with his sleeve. He swallowed hard, pushing the mucus back. He wouldn't be weak. He had promised Solare-san. He would be strong.

But Tsuna didn't want to see or hear that man. He couldn't even remember that bastard's face. The faded memories he had from childhood were downright horrific. Whenever Iemitsu came home, he'd get drunk and trash the whole house, while ogling Nana without paying any heed to the little child who wondered what was going on. Often scary, muscled men would come, and he and Nana would be advised to stay inside their rooms.

He never hugged Tsuna. He didn't love him. He didn't ring up on his birthdays, or when he had passed middle school. He didn't call when Tsuna was dying from typhoid. He never… taught him anything.

He was a living example of what a father ought _not_ to be.

A few more tears rolled down. But he couldn't stop them even if he had tried.

"This sucks so much…"

Tsuna had suppressed every memory he had of that man. He didn't want to remember them now. Not when he was getting his life back together. He never helped him gain it, so he had no right to take it away now.

He felt sick. Tsuna hugged his knees to his chest. He didn't feel like talking to Takeshi either. He didn't know if he wanted to tell him anything.

Tsuna was trembling, and felt the air around him to be strangely humid. Unbuttoning the top button of the shirt, he huffed for air.

Suddenly feeling the bitter taste of bile rise to his throat, Tsuna threw open the door and sprinted to the nearest bathroom, belching out the smoothie he had previously drunk.

He was scared… of Iemitsu.

* * *

"Yeah, we're going to visit… my dad. The flight's tomorrow." Tsuna told Takeshi over the phone. "And I don't know when I'm coming back."

"Oh…" Takeshi sounded hesitant, as he tried to cheer up Tsuna, "That's cool, right? You haven't visited your dad in forever. I'm sure you're going to have a great time, haha! And didn't you always want to visit Italy?"

"Yes… but that's because I wanted to meet Solare-san…" He replied.

"Maybe you could meet him, too!" Takeshi piped in excitedly. Tsuna always felt that his best friend played blissfully dumb to cheer up others and knew much more than he let on.

"Hah… I wished." He whispered sadly, holding up his phone with his shoulders as he half-heartedly threw random clothing into a tiny, old suitcase that his mother had lent him. "I don't even know where he's right now."

"My Old Man says that fate has strange ways to connect people, Tsuna! You should hope for the best."

"I will, Takeshi. Thank you." Tsuna said, stuffing his laptop and other necessary cords safely in the nest of shirts. Having finished packing, he put the lid down and slid the locks into place. "And I'll let you know when I land, okay?"

"Okay! Have a safe flight, Tsuna!"

Tsuna and his mom travelled to Narita that night, staying overnight at a hotel near the airport that had already been pre-booked by Iemitsu. Like the plane ticket, the hotel was a first-rate one, freaking expensive and posh. His father had planned and executed everything down to an atom. It must not have been a sudden decision. Tsuna looked out the spacious window of the hotel window, and saw dark figures standing nearby. He felt extremely uneasy. But he didn't know why.

They were just people passing through, obviously.

Their flight was at 10 in the morning. Tsuna was woken at dawn, and they arrived at precisely the right time after checking out and completing airport procedures. He was dumbstruck at the amazing amount of people, tripped twice, and got glared at by at least fifteen passersby.

 _You should hope for the best, Tsuna!_

Right.

Tsuna repeated his friend's cheers in his mind as he proceeded through the terminal and walked toward the Swiss International Air Lines flight 161, to go up in the sky for the first time ever in his life.

He was happy, but at the same time he was not.

His mother led the way, a slight skip in her step and a dreamy look in her face.

Tsuna climbed into his flight after her, smiling politely at the air hostess greeting him and found his seat at the back of the plane, beside a window.

Maybe it wasn't going to be as bad as he thought.

* * *

 **A/N** : The plot is beginning to catch up! Tell me what you think, don't be shy. I get discouraged without your opinions. :( Lots of love.


	9. Welcome to Italy

Note: 

This is Japanese - Normal text signifies Japanese.

 _"This is Italian/English"/This is a Thought/Chat -_ Italics with quotation signify Italian or English (English when Tsuna is speaking, ofc), and w/o quotion signifies thought process or chat. Just see the context.

* * *

Tsuna watched in wonder as they soared thousands of kilometers above the ground, flying even higher than the clouds. The plane flew over Asia, and he passed multiple countries which resembled tiny playthings from the enormous height. It was a breathtaking experience.

It was also frightening, because Tsuna read too many comics where planes ended up crashing. He didn't get much amusement from imagining himself as a badly mangled corpse on the ground. Agh.

At afternoon they landed in Zurich Airport, where there was a layover of two hours. Tsuna explored around the airport, finding so many unfamiliar people walking by, bustling with life. The air was chiller, the languages were different, and everything was so much dissimilar to Japan. He managed to get lost in the crowd, and had to explain himself frantically to a Swiss man who didn't understand his broken English before being promptly rescued by Nana.

Switching planes, they then flew to Rome. Since Switzerland and Italy were neighboring countries, it took only one and half an hour before the flight stopped at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport. Tsuna was already feeling drained despite the wonderful food and treatment from first-class flights. He couldn't wait to take a nap, and was too scared to fall asleep in the plane, for very 'real' reasons. Though it wasn't clear what he'd do even if he _was_ awake in case of an accident.

They stayed in Rome for another one and half hour, where Nana phoned Iemitsu and gushed about arriving to the country. She sounded so content Tsuna couldn't bring himself to be angry again. He was just really tired. He then sent a text to Takeshi, explaining his arrival. Due to the great time differences, he was probably asleep.

Their final flight took off at evening. The domestic flight flew south, and he watched as the magnificent gulf of Palermo came closer every moment, the clear sea perfectly reflecting the blue, all-encompassing sky above. Roughly one hour later the plane landed at Falcone Borsellino Airport at Punta Raisi, Palermo. They were taken to the exit terminal by the airport bus. Tsuna walked through the procedures half-awake, and after finishing immigration process he picked up his luggage and proceeded to the exit.

It was already over 10 PM at night. As he searched for his father in the crowd, though he didn't quite clearly remember the face, he only found Caucasian men and women. His mother tugged at his hand.

"Tsu-kun! Why are you daydreaming?" She reprimanded lightly, "Our car is waiting!"

 _Eh, car?_

A car was indeed waiting to pick them up.

It was, in fact, a slick Rose-Gold _Rolls_ _Royce_ , Tsuna noted as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. A beige logo bearing the name of the hotel was emblazoned at the side of the car.

Also, why were they going to be taken at a hotel? Where was Iemitsu?

Their driver was a man wearing all black suits with a sunglass covering his eyes, which was extremely odd because it was nighttime. The situation's awkwardness was increased greatly because another all-black suited man vaguely resembling a movie don was seated on the front. No one said a word. Tsuna licked his dry lips and hoped he wouldn't be killed tonight.

The car glided across the smooth highway, the gulf of Palermo on his left and the city on his right. City lights brightened up enough to see around them. The sea reflected the multitude of neon colors from billboards, shining with vibrancy. The streets were clean and aesthetic, with low-storied houses constructed neatly on either sides.

Tsuna was jerked awake as the car came to an even stop. It had been more than a half an hour ride with moderate traffic on the roads. A majectic, palace-like hotel was standing in front of the car. Monochromatic signs lit up the beige structure of the hotel, and Tsuna could read 'Grand Hotel _Villa Igiea'_ on the front gate.

Their chauffeur held the door open for him and he stepped out of the car, happy to be finally free.

"Ah, isn't it beautiful?" Nana squealed in delight as she came out from the other side. "Your papa is so considerate, isn't he, Tsu-kun?"

"Yes, him, where is _he_ , anyway?" Tsuna mumbled lowly, nodding numbly.

The night manager was waiting for them, and soon they were shown into a deluxe suite overlooking the sea.

It wasn't before Tsuna had crushed down on his plush-like bed, slept like a rock for ten hours before he was finally up and awake. Then he asked Nana about the biggest question –

Where the bloody heck was Iemitsu!?

Nana was already up and busy doing her makeup and hair in the master bedroom.

"Ah, Tsu-kun! You're up. I was just going to call you… Papa's at work. He will come in the evening. In the meantime we're going to look around the city a bit!"

His mother looked even tinier in that enormous, empty room.

"Huh?" Tsuna stated incredulously, "Can't he take a half-day break today or something, mum? We're visiting after so long and –"

"Your papa does a very important job, Tsu-kun! He can't just take a holiday whenever he wishes to. You must understand that." She said, waving his question away as she happily applied her lipstick.

Tsuna opened his mouth to say something but closed it. He gritted his teeth and walked away without another word. Once she was out of his sight he rolled his eyes.

"And – Tsu-kun! Your breakfast coupon is with me! Go and have it, I think there's still some minutes left."

"Nevermind," He called out, "I don't want breakfast."

Did she choose to ignore his antics? Or was she too much blown away by the luxurious experience that she failed to see past the mask?

The fresh wind from the sea-side lightly blew his hair as Tsuna entered the balcony, leaning on the railing. He took out his phone. He had a new message from Takeshi, wishing him to have a happy trip. He replied with a vague 'thanks' and decided to accompany his mother after all.

* * *

Tsuna and Nana began their tour through Palermo by the Rolls Royce, accompanied by two armed black men, supposedly for their safety. He didn't understand – the halls were also littered with guards donning the same outfits as well. It was like they were prisoners being taken to jail.

He literally seen no other hotel with security like that. Never.

Tsuna was extremely suspicious. He couldn't properly enjoy the spots they were seeing, eerily sensing the burning stare on his back.

In the beginning of the tour, they passed by Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house of Italy before crossing Mercati di Palermo, or the Capo Market and advanced toward the majestic Palermo Cathedral. Later on when the group was nearing the Palazzo dei Normanni on foot, Tsuna quietly slipped past the guard's view into the park beside the palace, which he later came to know as Park Villa Bonanno.

He walked quickly down the wide pathways lined with palm trees and trimmed scrubs. He sighed in relief after he was certainly far from the palace. Tsuna turned to look if someone had come searching for him and stepped on a person's foot.

" _Cazzo!_ "

Swore an Italian youth, staring up at him with the eyes promising death. Tsuna gasped in horror and backed up, holding his hands up in fear. The man was an obvious gangster, with messed-up silver hair and a myriad of wristbands and rings decorating his arms while he held a lit cigarette on his left hand.

Oh, _shit_.

"A-ah! Sorry! I-I wasn't looking –!" Tsuna began, halfway remembering that he was speaking Japanese. " _E-eto! I m-mean, sorry-!"_

The other man showed him the finger and stormed out the other way, mumbling profanities under his breath. Tsuna gulped, his heart pounding in his chest and hurried on his way as well.

He got away big time there.

He sat down on a bench and leaned back, closing his eyes as he listened to the quiet trickle of the nearby fountain. The palm trees rustled lightly in the breeze. Tsuna felt himself calm down slowly.

Yes, no more distractions now. He remembered a conversation he had with Solare once.

 _Solare-san, where in Italy do you live?_

 _Somewhere in Italy. None of your business, kiddo._

 _Aw, come on, I might visit someday!_

 _Hm. No chance you'd be seeing any of me. I don't stay around too much in one place. Though you could say Sicily is my home-ground._

Tsuna wondered where exactly in Sicily the man had meant.

Out of the blue he heard a loud crash not too far away and jumped in shock. He could see smoke coming from the way the Italian boy had gone, followed by angry shouting in said language which seemed to progress in his direction by each moment.

 _Today is not my lucky day._ Tsuna thought in frustration, scrambling under a trimmed bush for cover. The park didn't offer much place for hiding, because everything was just _wide_ _open_ and you could see everything.

" _Vaffanculo_! _Non_ _torno_ _indietro_!"

As he pressed hard against the bushes and entangled himself deeply in the leaves, Tsuna peered through tiny openings to see the battle unfold. That was…! The Italian boy he had collided with before, who was snarling in utmost fury, sticks of dynamite in his hand, held in between his fingers. He was facing off against three men who were wielding pistols.

 _Wait, pistols? And – dynamite!?_

Tsuna watched, frozen in terror as the men argued in Italian, unable to comprehend anything. Should he call the police or something? The boy was yelling and cursing at them, and the situation was heating up fast.

Finally as one man cocked his pistol, the boy tensed up and lit a stick of dynamite with his cigarette.

At that moment, Tsuna knew if he didn't do something and that dynamite stick exploded there, they all would be charred to bits. He needed to react – and he needed to do it _right_ _now_.

 _God, save me._

Picking up a brick which was somehow miraculously present, Tsuna chucked it with all his might at the nearest thug. It struck instantly with a thunderous boom and a wounded cry ripped out of the man's throat.

Seizing the opportunity of surprise, he screamed " _Run_!" and tore through bushes and statues diagonally as he bolted to save his dear life. He heard gunshots screech behind him and instinctively shielded himself behind a statue, and began running again. The ground quaked as something exploded and Tsuna almost tripped over his feet. He picked himself up and kept going.

He didn't stop running until he had reached the end of the park and flopped down beside a large statue. Tsuna gasped for air, clutching his shirt as he trembled wildly.

He was alive.

 _No,_ he told himself. _It's okay, I'm fine now. So, calm down. Take a deep breath._

He was alright then, and that's all that mattered.

"Why did you save me?" He heard a growl from behind and whipped around.

 _Oh no._

It was the Italian boy from before…!

* * *

 **A/N** : Poor Tsuna never gets a break, does he? I had lots of fun looking up flight details, hotels and Palermo tourist spots. You could look them up too, if you wish. Thank you so much for all the support. Please mention if I made any inaccuracies. As a side note, this is not a romantic story so no R27 ;_; and I've encountered air-head or non-caring parents first hand, so please don't think of it as cliche. Maybe they're better than Tsuna thinks, we'll see, right?

Review, please!


	10. Smokin' Bomb

Tsuna halted at the spot, loosely noting the boy could speak Japanese quite fluently as well.

"I-…!" He stuttered, "I, um, wasn't go-going to…?" And laughed nervously, inching backward as the man stepped forward, till his spine touched the fence. "Uh, er, I'll forget everything…? No harm done, r-right?"

He didn't get a reply. Instead the boy observed him from head to toe with the deepest scowl present on his face.

"Which _familiga_ are you from?"

"What!?" Tsuna said, choking on his own spit, "I'm n-not from any gang! No! I'm just a tourist! I-I came here with my mom and was l-looking at the palace a-and well…"

The boy kept staring at him. Meanwhile Tsuna could only think of the dynamites … they could be anywhere!

"S-so…" Tsuna said hesitantly, "Can- Can I go now? Please?"

"No."

Tsuna froze again, and focused his gaze on the ground, hoping the other person would leave him alone. His teeth were chattering. He was here on a holiday, not to get killed or maimed! For God's sake, these troubles seemed to never end these days!

The boy spoke again, his voice two octave lower.

"So, you mean to tell me, you had no ill motives for stepping in the fight?"

Tsuna fiercely nodded on verge of tears. "Y-yes! I swear…!"

"Listen here, I can't give you money or anything. So if you're thinking –"

"I don't want money!" He wailed, "J-just let me go, please. M-my mom's probably worried about me by now. I promise I won't tell anyone or anything. I don't even know anything here, so please…!"

Again silence greeted him. Tsuna could only hear the sound of his rapid heartbeat and the ambient noise.

"Hayato Gokudera."

Tsuna looked up to find an outstretched hand at him. His heart skipped in surprise. It took his frozen brain a moment to understand the gesture.

Hastily wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, he awkwardly returned the gesture "T-Tsunayoshi Sawada." He replied, "But you can call me Tsuna. I-it's good to meet you, erm, Gokudera-san!"

Gokudera's expression remained the same.

After uneasily fidgeting for a moment, Tsuna mumbled, "S-so… Gokudera, um, I'll be going now…?"

"Wait." Gokudera fished out a pen and paper from his pocket and scribbled a series of numbers on it and held it out for him. "It's my number. Whatever you need, or whenever you're in trouble, call me. You've saved my life. So I'm indebted to you."

"A-ah…!" Tsuna took the paper meekly and gulped. Stuffing the paper into his pocket, he said, "That wasn't necessary, but okay. T-thank you."

"Don't hesitate."

"N-no." Tsuna smiled, rubbing his hair back in embarrassment when the distant but familiar sound of police sirens made both of them turn around in surprise.

Gokudera swore under his breath and began climbing the wall. Tsuna gawked at the person who'd suddenly turned into a monkey, before he was offered help and took it, scrambling after the Italian youth. Gokudera led him expertly through a jumble of backstreets and alleyways, and they were finally safe.

Huffing, Tsuna leaned against a damp wall as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Oh, gosh. _That_ was a big run."

Gokudera wasn't tired at all. He looked at Tsuna surprised before scoffing and nodding his head. "Italian Policemen are fucking crazy. These damn parasites are impossible to get off after they get a whiff."

Not knowing the answer to that, Tsuna changed the topic. "Are you… Japanese, by any chance, Gokudera-san?"

The other boy stiffened a little. "Half-Japanese."

"O-oh…" Tsuna said. Suddenly his belly grumbled loudly as nothing had entered it since the dinner at plane. He blushed wildly.

"It's getting late, isn't it?" Gokudera said. Tsuna nodded embarrassedly.

"Yes… I just need to take an Uber- I wonder where the main road is…"

"Hold on. I'll drop you off to your hotel. Let me treat you to Italian cuisine first, tourist kid." Gokudera said, and dragged him off to right without waiting for a reply. Tsuna yelped in protest. However his hunger was rather overpowering.

His guts told him this silver-haired gangster wouldn't harm him.

* * *

They entered a dimly lit restaurant which smelled pleasantly of coffee and pasta. It was decorated in a typical European manner with elements of nature incorporated in them. A waiter greeted them in English. He seemed to be familiar with Gokudera, and showed them a table at the back. Tsuna warily looked around, seeing few Italians talking in hushed whispers in their seats, and once or twice a stray glance in his direction. However their way of dressing seemed a little _different_. There was something in their appearance that just… set off red alarms in his brain.

Gokudera tugged on his cuffs. "Come on."

"Gokudera-san," Tsuna said after they had sat down, "Y-you shouldn't have done this – I wasn't expecting this, um –"

"Shut up." Gokudera said, and glared at him. "Unless you planned to have lunch with your mother, it's on me."

He gulped and looked down on his lap.

"Are… are you sure, this place is – um, safe?" Tsuna didn't know how to say it without sounding rude, but he felt very uncomfortable by now. Gokudera hummed, waving him off. The waiter came over to take their order.

"What will you take?" He asked Tsuna.

"Um, anything is fine – I-I don't know much about it anyway!"

Gokudera then proceeded to place the order in Italian. Tsuna naturally didn't understand a word. He rubbed his cold palms together and glanced around.

"They won't bother us as long as you're with me. So stop that."

Tsuna blinked. "Is that… supposed to be reassuring?" He asked.

Leaning back in his seat, Gokudera smirked. He replied nonchalantly, "Just wait until food arrives."

He was right, more or less. The food tasted heavenly. They had Caponata, Pasta con le Sarde, garden salad, and Torta Setteveli to finish it off. Tsuna was so full he couldn't move. Their portions were so large!

It was so different from the food he was used to, but it was extremely delicious. "Thank you, Gokudera-san – it was really amazing! I'm really thankful." He said gratefully, bowing his head slightly out of habit. Then his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

"Oh – excuse me, it's my mom – Hello?"

"Tsu-kun! Where are you? I thought you were just exploring the other sides but not even the guards knew where you went! I was so worried!"

"I'm – I'm fine, mom." He spoke in a hushed whisper, cringing at her loud tone, "Don't worry – I just… met with a, um, friend and we just – had lunch."

"Your _friend_?" Tsuna didn't blame her incredulous tone – he found it strange coming out of his own mouth. "Here, in Palermo?" He felt his cheeks growing warm. What else should he have said!? It was a million times more embarrassing because Gokudera-san could understand him perfectly.

"Y-yeah… Um, where are you now?"

"I'm going to have lunch then, Tsu-kun. It's in front of the palace we were seeing. I'll call you after I'm done, okay?"

"Okay, you do that."

"And – Tsu-kun! I called your papa! He's coming to our hotel in an hour or so! He got an emergency leave!"

Tsuna felt his breath hitch and bit his lips. His fingers coiled tightly around his phone. He fought to maintain a straight face.

"I… see."

"Okay, see you soon! Have fun with your friend!"

He sighed as he lowered the phone from his ears and heard the click of the call ending. Looking up, he found Gokudera staring oddly at him.

"A-ah, Gokudera-san… sorry. Should we – go now?"

Gokudera shrugged and got up from his seat. Tsuna followed him out. He hastily caught himself from bowing at the man bidding them goodbye and hit himself on the glass door. "Ow…"

As they stood outside the restaurant, Gokudera lit a cigarette and blew a puff of smoke. "Come, I'll take you back." He said. Tsuna nodded in reply. The duo walked through the winding lanes and backstreets before finally arriving in front of the Norman Palace. The sun was slanting more to west, casting a golden glow over the marvelous architecture.

Tsuna turned around to face Gokudera. The intimidating man was well over a head taller than him, and Tsuna had to raise his head quite high to look straight in the eyes.

"Gokudera-san… thank you for the lunch and for escorting me here… um, I really appreciate it." He said, bowing.

"Forget everything that happened in the park. Do you understand?"

Without any doubt.

"Y-yeah. I mean – I understand."

With a nod, Gokudera strode in the other direction, and quickly blended into the vibrant crowd consisting of natives and tourists from all over the globe. Even if Tsuna tried, he couldn't locate the unique silver hair anywhere anymore.

The afternoon air blew his brunette locks gently. Tsuna touched the piece of paper in his pocket – the only remnant of the hellish ordeal that he'd faced today.

Tsuna laughed softly, cupping his face with both his hands and breathed deeply.

"Ah, God… _what_ else do you have in store for me, huh?"

Soon his mother had come and they both returned to the hotel. Once again Tsuna was surrounded by the claustrophobic barrier of guards, and led into their expensive suite as if he was some sort of luxurious prisoner.

"Tsuna!"

* * *

 **A/N** **: Ahh... hey guys... so, it's been a long time. I'm very sorry. So, so, so sorry. You guys must have been mad at me, and then forgotten this measly story. But I didn't. The thing is, I had no laptop for all these months, or in a place I could've borrowed one - and had a lot of things on my plate including studies and family stuff. I had a really important national exam that was responsible for my higher studies and basically my whole career. So yeah... I can't still promise I'll be regular, but I now have a lot of free time of my hands, and I had already planned out how I wanted this story to go, so hopefully I wouldn't disappoint you all too badly. Thanks for reading, lots of love. Leave a review if you'd like. 3**


	11. Familial Disputes

"Tsuna!"

That familiar tanned, muscular figure. A square face hardened by working in the Sun for too long. That short, cropped blonde hair. Those pair of amber eyes staring at him – and a large, carefree grin like everything was just fine.

Tsuna felt a warm wave of blood rushing to his brain, and staggered back in surprise. Suddenly he felt an lack of oxygen in the air. The food he recently consumed churned inside his guts. He could taste bile at the back of his throat.

"Honey!" His mother sprang forward and threw her arms around Iemitsu. He laughed loudly in reply, and hugged her back. "Oh honey, I missed you so much!"

"Me too, darling!" Iemitsu said lovingly, holding her face. "Are you having a good time here?" He asked.

Nana nodded excitedly. "Oh, the best time, dear!" She replied, "Thank you so much for this surprise!"

"Anything for my lovely wife." Iemitsu kissed her on her cheeks.

Tsuna looked away, and tried to escape to the balcony. The sudden movement got Iemitsu's attention.

"Oh my Tsuna baby! You have grown so much! Why won't you greet your papa, huh?"

Tsuna glanced at him. "…Hey." He said softly. His father was silent for a moment before bursting out in laughter again and walked towards him.

"Tsuna! You became so cool!" He gushed, trying to rub his cheeks against Tsuna's but the boy moved away forcibly. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

Tsuna sensed the maliciousness behind his sweet words. "I-I am." He replied, licking his chapped lips. "I'm just… a little tired after walking so long."

Iemitsu hummed and leaned in again. "Ohho. You smell like cigarettes and gunpowder, Tsuna. Care to tell your papa how awesome your vacation is really going?" He said, smiling coyly.

"A lot of people smoke cigarettes around here. I just stood close to them and probably got it on my clothes or something." Tsuna spat, forcing his way around his father and marched to his room.

"And besides," He called out before slamming the door shut, "It's _none_ of your business, _**father**_."

Fuming, Tsuna sat down on his bed as he collected his thoughts. He still wasn't prepared for meeting that man. His hands shook as he clasped them together. He felt extremely angry.

 _Stop. Stop. Stop._

 _Calm down, Tsuna._

He placed his hand over his heart and took a few deep breaths.

"Tsunayoshi!" The door flung open and there stood his mother, her mouth twisted into a frown and her hands resting on her hips. "What was that!?"

He didn't reply.

"Tsuna!"

"Your father is doing all this things for you and you're not even acknowledging him! How dare you behave in such a way! You –"

"I never asked for this!" Tsuna suddenly yelled, standing up and facing his mother. "I never asked to come to Italy and stay in a luxury hotel! Tell me, how many times exactly has he called me – _us_ , in all these years? When it was my birthday – when it was your anniversary, when I was sick – when I had given my final exams – during New Year – when has he actually bothered to call, huh!? Scratch that, has he ever sent a postcard or a letter? He's so busy that he can't even come receive us – or let us stay in his house! He has never done anything for me – and now he's smiling and you expect me to smile and call him father and pretend everything is fine and dandy!? _What_ kind of father is he!?"

He flopped down on the bed, coughing and gasping for breath following his monologue. His heart was beating a mile per minute. Blood rushed to his brain, making him feel dizzy and disoriented.

"I can't believe this, Tsuna..." Nana said, sounding hurt. "I'm meeting my husband after such a long time and you just had to ruin it for me…?"

"You – you call him imperfect yet what kind of son are you? Who do you think provides money for the family? Who do you think he's working so hard for!?"

"Even the Prime Minister of our country has time for his children, mom." Tsuna replied coldly. "If he has enough money to book us first class tickets and stays at a luxurious hotel then I don't think he needs to 'keep working hard to provide for us'. For the record, I wanted a father – not a darn piggy bank!"

Pushing Nana away from the door, Tsuna tried to exit out of the suite only to be blocked by Iemitsu.

"Let me go!" He hissed.

"Son, I'm sorry… I didn't realize that – that it had such a large impact on you –"

"Of course you didn't." Tsuna laughed and retorted, "Only if you _cared_ to look hard enough."

"Give me this chance to fix things up. Why don't you? Please?"

Tsuna remained silent. He calculated his choices. He was in an unknown country, inside a hotel swarming with armed guards. He wouldn't do any good to anger his mother or father any more. He had to return to Japan for anymore quarrels.

He loosened his shoulder and turned away. Iemitsu smiled.

"That's my boy. You really have grown up, huh?"

Tsuna wasn't listening, because his attention was focused elsewhere.

It was a shiny black laptop, resting on the tea table, poking out of a dusty laptop bag. It was presumably the computer Iemitsu used for work.

He smiled inwardly.

He needed answers, and couldn't think of any better way to get them.

Soon it was nightfall. Iemitsu had taken them out to dinner to another luxurious restaurant. Tsuna felt stiff and awkward dressed up in a set of dress shirt and pants his father had bought as a gift. On the other hand, Nana was very proud of her new, maroon velvet dress and was glowing with joy.

Tsuna had remained exclusively silent and reserved. He curtly answered any questions the man had for him. He ate very little even though the delicious smell of Italian food was making him hungrier than ever. After the dinner they had a few family photos taken, and then returned to the hotel.

He immediately shut himself inside his room, pretending to be asleep.

After changing into a pair of more comfortable garments, Tsuna sat on the floor with his ears on the door and eagerly waited for the love-struck couple to go to sleep before he could finally begin his mission.

He could hardly wait.

After he was sure they had fallen asleep, Tsuna snuck out. He entered the living space, where the sleek laptop awaiting him with all its secrets –

His face fell in disappointment.

 _I should've known._

The tea table was bare. Iemitsu had bagged the laptop to his bedroom.

With a frown on his face, Tsuna returned to his room and flopped down on the bed. He closed his eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.

Early in the morning, there was a loud knock on his doors. Tsuna was startled awake. It was five o' clock. Tsuna felt very irritated. Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he walked over to the door and opened it to reveal Iemitsu.

"Hey!" He said with a grin, "You still asleep? You youngsters need to get up early!"

"What do you need?" Tsuna asked curtly.

"Oh, nothing!" Iemitsu replied, "I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to my office."

His breath hitched, all tiredness gone in a moment's notice as Tsuna jerked to attention. He nodded, trying not to seem too eager.

"Y-yeah. Sure." Tsuna replied finally.

"Nice! Then get ready. We're leaving in 30 minutes!"

Was this a miracle?

 _The Gods have blessed me._

He would definitely find out whatever was going on.

 _Bring it on, Iemitsu Sawada._

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hi guys! Thanks so much for all your love and support. I feel really blessed. Let me know what you feel about this chapter, especially about Iemitsu - is he a bad guy? Why is Tsuna acting like that? Tell me what you think! Please review, fav or follow if you enjoy the story. Bye! 3**


	12. Hyper Intuition Pt1

"Why are we doing this?" Tsuna asked; a noticeable scowl present on his face as Nana emptied a whole bottle of hair gel into his gravity-defying hair; flattening the brunette locks and gathering them in a poufy ponytail.

"It's so you blend better with the crowds!" Iemitsu replied, who was now dressed in tank top, work pants and boots, slinging a pickaxe behind his shoulder. "When you're travelling you should always try to mimic the native people! Understand, Tsuna-fishy?"

Tsuna instinctively felt he wasn't being given the whole truth, but refrained from commenting. He put on the orange coppola that Iemitsu also insisted on – a flat cap that he saw many Italians wearing around.

He was already feeling itchy from the gel, and his hair being in a foreign position all of a sudden. He wondered why exactly he needed to blend in, because he had seen many other foreigners milling around without a problem, but he knew he wouldn't get the truth so kept shut up. His eyes were shielded by a pair of sunglasses and his mouth hidden behind a mask, also bought by Iemitsu.

Nana decided to remain in the suite as he and his father got down. There was a black limo waiting for them, with a man clothed in black sitting in the front seat. The driver held the door out for them. Tsuna warily eyed his surroundings as he got inside the car.

There was just so many things wrong, he didn't know where to begin.

The car smoothly glided through the roads. The sun was just rising, and there wasn't any traffic on the roads. Tsuna yawned tiredly. Yesterday's sleep wasn't much fulfilling. He made a move to remove the hat but a hand stopped him. Tsuna turned around to see Iemitsu shaking his head.

"Don't take it off."

Tsuna swatted his hand away. "I guess you won't tell me _why_?" He said.

"I already told you."

Scoffing, Tsuna replied, "That might've worked on me when I was five. If you don't want to say it, just keep _silent_."

And silent he remained. After around ten minutes, the car came to a stop beside an ordinary looking building. Iemitsu told Tsuna to get down.

"This is where I work!" He told him with a large grin.

Tsuna nodded slowly, his narrowed eyes looking over the structure.

The building Iemitsu introduced as his workplace was old, with peeling paint and a hand-painted sign in Italian. It had around six floors. The building was surrounded by other shady looking towers, overgrown trees and construction materials.

They stepped over bricks and broken stones to get to the main gate; which was still locked. Iemitsu unlocked the large padlock, and pulled open the rusty gates to reveal another layer of protection. Tsuna raised one brow.

It was a digital lock with three levels of scanners – a retina scanner, a finger print scanner and a place to insert the ID card. Iemitsu habitually completed the steps, and the door slid open. They had to walk through another electric scanner, after which they finally stepped inside.

The main entrance silently shut off behind them. They were plunged in darkness as there wasn't any window to let sunlight in. Iemitsu fumbled through the walls and turned on the lights. Dingy, yellow lights weakly illuminated the hallway, which was old and bare just like the outside.

Tsuna carefully kept his face blank. But it wasn't like Iemitsu could see his expressions any way.

"Let's go, son." Iemitsu said, leading the way. Tsuna followed him, noticing tiny, hidden cameras all along the roof. He felt his stomach drop. The inside of the building was colder than outside. Tsuna was shivering slightly.

A receptionist greeted them pleasantly at the front desk, where Iemitsu signed his arrival. They took the elevator to the fourth floor. It was also old-fashioned and creaked loudly as it hoisted them up.

The doors opened with a ding, where they came into another long hallway. There were a few cheap paintings on the walls along the way. The hallway opened up to a large square room. To the left there were closed rooms, perhaps reserved for higher ranking employees; while there were cubicles to the right.

The place was almost bare save for a few employees sitting in the cubicles, who instantly looked up as they stepped in.

It was as if they were being expected, Tsuna noted.

" _Buongiorno_ , _Capo_!" A young Italian man walked up to them with a polite smile on his face. Iemitsu greeted back. He had long, dirty blonde hair with fringes covering his right eye. His eyes were a beautiful, blue color. He turned to Tsuna and nodded smilingly. Tsuna nodded back hastily, feeling extremely foolish due to his weird get-up.

"Thy must be Sawada-san! It is my pleasure to meet thee." He said with a small bow; surprising Tsuna with his Japanese which sounded fluent but very archaic. "My name is Basil."

"It's, um, nice to meet you too." Tsuna said, bowing back. He turned to Iemitsu and hissed under his breath before pulling down the shades and stuffing them in his pocket, "I'm going to take off my sunglasses whatever you say." He took off his mask too. It was suffocating him.

There was a flare of anger in Iemitsu's eyes which vanished almost immediately as he broke into a smile and roughly patted Basil on the shoulder. "Basil is my apprentice! He's doing great. He's one of the best construction workers around here! Very fast and intuitive, right, my boy?"

Basil smiled unsurely. "I'll introduce thy with others." He said to Tsuna, who nodded in reply.

"Moretti, Oregano and Turmeric!" Basil said, pointing to three Italians; Moretti was a tall and lean man who wore a beanie. Oregano wore glasses and had light brown hair pulled into a bun. Turmeric had short, brown hair. They all wore suits, which was slightly odd considering his father's outfit. " _Questo è Sawada_!"

They smiled pleasantly at Tsuna and said, " _Lieto_ _di_ _vederla_!" which Tsuna vaguely remembered being something along the lines of "Nice to meet you".

It seemed only Basil knew Japanese. He smiled back at them and mumbled in broken English that it was a pleasure to meet them too.

Then hearing footsteps in the back, he turned around to find a tall, tanned woman who examined him with narrowed eyes. She crossed her arms across her chest, murderous intent oozing out of her. Tsuna felt shivers wrecking his spine as he unconsciously took a step back in fear.

She had dark blue hair and reddish eyes, with a distinct scar on her right cheek. It was when Basil rapidly said something in Italian that she nodded in understanding and loosened up.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lal Mirch." She said in a no-nonsense tone. Her Japanese was fluent and clear. Tsuna cracked a nervous smile.

"I-It's good to meet you too. I'm um, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Lal Mirch turned to Iemitsu and said something in Italian. The exchange didn't seem too pleasant as his father wasn't grinning ear to ear as he talked. As they exchanged words, Basil asked Tsuna to sit down as he fetched him a cup of coffee.

Tsuna curiously observed his surroundings.

The office didn't have much personality. There were some folders organized on shelves, stationery lying on the desks, with one or two laptops lying closed. He dragged his index finger across Basil's desk. It was dusty. Not only Basil's, as he examined the other desks they all seemed to be dirty to some degree. It was like they hadn't been cleaned in a long time. He didn't want to think that Italians were such people who never cleaned their workspace.

It just rang red alarms in his brain.

And Tsuna knew to never doubt his guts.

As he discreetly glanced at his father's colleagues, he found their suits to look quite expensive. They were well-tailored, and their shoes were shining. Not an usual outfit for construction workers. Tsuna regretted taking off his mask.

"Here, Sawada!" Basil returned with a cup of hot coffee for Tsuna, and one for Iemitsu. Tsuna took it gratefully and inquired if they weren't going to drink coffee too. "We've already had ours," Basil replied politely.

He asked about how Tsuna was enjoying Italy, and told him about a few spots to not miss. He also advised Tsuna to indulge in Sicilian cuisine. Tsuna asked about his Japanese, and Basil admitted he learnt it from an old book – which was quite an astonishing feat in itself.

After Tsuna had finished drinking his coffee, Iemitsu asked if he would like to leave. He replied in the affirmative, for two reasons. One – Lal Mirch was observing him scarily, and two – he probably wouldn't find any more information here with everyone around him.

He bid goodbye to Iemitsu's coworkers, and descended down the elevator. Tsuna waited on the ground floor while Iemitsu went to talk on the phone. He took out his phone and grimaced to find no signals.

Out of the blue, he felt someone watching him. Disregarding it as a rustle of wind, Tsuna thumbed through his phone. But the nagging feeling of a stare burning into his back wasn't going away.

Tsuna turned around and his gaze met a pair of pitch black eyes. He froze on the spot. It was as if these eyes bore a hole through his soul. He felt like his heart had stopped.

But only for a moment.

The dark figure disappeared within the shadows as quickly as he came. Tsuna could only see the fluttering of a blazer; and the outline of a hat before the man vanished in thin air.

There was a tap on his shoulder and Tsuna whirled around, bewildered. It was only Iemitsu, who was looking at him strangely. "Let's go?"

Tsuna gulped and nodded slowly. "Y-yeah…"

Why did he feel so out of breath?


	13. Hyper Intuition Pt2

Tsuna watched the pristine Italian landscape pass by as the limo took him back to the hotel. So many things were going through his head at that moment. He didn't have the mindset to appreciate sitting in a vehicle most could only dream of. He sighed blearily and leaned back on the seat.

His father was hiding something. But what was it?

Tsuna was hoping to discover some information in this visit; however Iemitsu beat him to the punch. It wasn't going to be as easy as he first thought. He fingered the sunglass and the mask in his pocket.

Iemitsu wanted to conceal his identity. But... why?

 _Why was such ultra-modern security measures in such an old and dingy building intended for a construction company?_

 _What were the hidden cameras protecting?_

 _Why was everyone so well-dressed, save for his father?_

 _Where were the construction materials?_

So many 'why's and 'how's but no reply. Something was deeply wrong. And Tsuna was determined to find it out no matter what. The signal on his phone was back as soon as he stepped out of the building. He wondered how Iemitsu was talking even though his network was blocked?

He searched up the name of the construction company, but found nothing more than a barely-functioning website with crappy formatting. It was generic, boring, _vague_. Tsuna overrode the basic filter of the search engine and tried a variety of different ways in his phone, but all of the search results came up ineffective.

After he returned to the hotel, Tsuna opened his laptop. He initiated Tor and enabled his numerous anti-access blockers. Opening his favorite search engine which not only checked through the websites indexed, but also unindexed sites of the deep web, he typed the name of Iemitsu's company and pressed enter. Tsuna shook his head disappointedly as he read the results. Nothing useful.

His heart was pumping fast, and adrenaline coursed through his veins. Tsuna explored information centers on the darknets in hopes of turning up to something.

There was absolutely _nothing_.

Nothing to prove that ' _Impresa_ _Costruzioni_ _Siciliana'_ was anything but an old, trivial, Italian construction company that his dad happened to be working at.

But it also didn't answer the _very_ obvious factual inaccuracies.

Tsuna gritted his teeth in annoyance and forcibly shut off his laptop. He really missed Solare right now – that guy could've found the information for him in a matter of minutes. He remembered asking him for help on retrieving data from a 90's website which had been long since taken down from the servers. It took a fair bit of persuasion, but afterwards the information was in his pc in less than an hour.

" _You know, you owe me a fair bit of Credits."_

" _Huh? Wait… wait wait WAIT IS THAT –"_

" _Yep."_

" _Did you really manage to get_ _ **that**_ _? How!?"_

" _Don't ask for business tactics, idiot."_

" _OMG Thank you so much, Solare-san! Seriously you rock so much! You have no idea how much I love you right now!"_

" _Is it too late to say I added an unlock password to it?"_

" _Ahh don't worry, I'll crack it. Thank you again!"_

"… _And your PC will crash if you don't unlock it within five tries."_

" _Okay! On it!"_

"God, can't you make it so that I bump into Solare-san here? Somehow? Some way?" Tsuna asked the air next to him miserably. "I don't know his name – heck, I don't even know what he looks like – but there has to be a way! I just… really miss him. And I wished I had someone to vent about all this. I can't tangle Takeshi into my family matters like _this_."

Looking at the clock, Tsuna was startled to find it was almost five in the afternoon. Had he really been spending such a long time in front of the computer? His stomach seemed to remember that it required food, and grumbled loudly. He wondered why his mother hadn't checked on him yet, but that was pretty common. Sighing, Tsuna exited out of Tor, stopped the VPN and cleared any remaining traces of his search history. He turned off his laptop, and placed it away before getting out of bed.

Just as his feet touched the ground, a sudden thought hit him like a ton of bricks.

 _What if the company never existed?_

His eyes went wide with realization. The scenes from the morning played before his eyes with perfect clarity.

What if there was no information because such a company was just a façade for Iemitsu to fool Tsuna because he was being too inquisitive? Thinking logically, why after _all_ _these_ _years_ of secrecy and lies – he would take Tsuna directly to his workplace?

 _And didn't… didn't 'Capo' mean Boss?_

His father never claimed to be the boss of any company, small or otherwise. Tsuna felt sick to his guts. He cupped his hands to his face, and took fast, ragged breath as horrible realization dawned on him with complete certainty. He didn't waste another second. With lightning speed, he restarted his computer and connected to the encrypted network again. It didn't take very long this time.

The website was only created one day earlier.

His laptop dropped from his hands into the sheets, and Tsuna staggered back until his back touched the headstand. He was shaking all over, with so many emotions running throughout him.

Disbelief, fear, anger, sadness and… confusion.

"Oh no…" He whispered as tears fell down his cheek, " _Why_ …?"

Tsuna clutched his chest tightly. It hurt so much that he thought he might get a heart attack any moment then. Forcing himself to painstakingly close the access route properly and clean his tracks once again, Tsuna drew the covers and huddled under it.

"What exactly is he doing…?"

His father was involved in illicit activities. It all made sense then. Never being home, lying, immense amount of money pouring in without a credible source – and finally, today's experience. Iemitsu didn't want others to recognize his son fearing for his safety. But he also couldn't prevent his anger. That's why he made Tsuna put on such a ridiculous costume. It explained all the security measures and hidden cameras.

Tsuna felt lost.

He felt… scared.

He didn't want to believe it.

He wanted to think it was all a lie – and his stupid, happy-go-lucky father really was a hardworking person who helped build homes and fix roads and oversee construction work. He just had the fault of forgetting his wife and son. Nothing else. He was a great man, just like Nana said.

But maybe he was wrong, he thought – maybe there was something off in his calculations – maybe he had stumbled upon the wrong website. It was certainly possible, right?

Tsuna wanted, no – needed answers. Right _then_.

Otherwise he was going to shatter.

He was going to go back to that day, four years ago – the day he had finally decided to take his own life.

Closing his eyes, Tsuna licked his dry, chapped lip. _It's going to be okay._ He told himself. _I'm going to get through this._

* * *

Iemitsu returned around eight o' clock. He stank of asphalt, sweat and tar, and looked greasy and dirty. His boots were covered with dirt, which left muddy imprints around the main entrance. He grinned widely at his wife, who was reprimanding him for "wearing shoes inside and working so hard".

Tsuna stood further away, in front of the television, pretending to be engrossed in the Italian broadcasts while he observed the man by the corner of his eyes. His heart hammered away at his chest. Tsuna was afraid his father would hear it and know everything if he came any closer.

 _There it is._

Iemitsu was also holding an old, dusty laptop bag on his left hand. Tsuna forcefully averted his eyes, and decided to return to his room before it started to seem too suspicious.

"Ah, Tsuna!" Iemitsu called out. Black lines flared across Tsuna's vision as the world around him did a 360 degree turn.

 _Calm down. He's not going to know unless you tell him._

He slowly turned around. "What… what is it?" Tsuna asked.

Iemitsu observed him for a moment before breaking out in a smile again. "Haa, are you still angry at me, son? You didn't like my poor, tiny office, did you?" He asked.

"I-it's not that." Tsuna said, feeling his mouth being dangerously dry. "I was just… feeling tired, that's all."

Iemitsu hummed, shaking his head. "Must be the jet lag. I felt _so_ bad when I first arrived here, you know? Why don't you sleep early tonight? Let's see if I can get room service for you." He said and then turned to Nana. "What about you, darling? Are you feeling well?"

"I'm always well if I'm with you!"

Tsuna seized this opportunity and walked as fast as possible to his room without breaking out in a run. He let out a deep breath of relief as he shut the door. _Okay, I did great. For now._

After some minutes, there was a knock on the door. "Tsuna-fishy, what would you like for dinner?" Iemitsu asked loudly from the other side. Tsuna unlocked it and peered out. His father was on the phone with the room service. He blushed furiously at the outrageous nickname, even if the person on the line was unlikely to know Japanese. "A-anything is fine." He replied.

"Okay!" Iemitsu then ordered something in Italian, and ended the call. "The food will be there in fifteen minutes. So you can eat and go to sleep early. I and Nana will go enjoy a romantic dinner! Wouldn't we, darling?"

Tsuna nodded and went back inside. A smile crept on his as he realized his _amazing_ chance to steal his father's laptop.

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He wouldn't let it pass by.

Soon, there was a chime of the doorbell ringing, and his food arrived – delicious and steaming hot. Tsuna hadn't eaten anything in the whole day. He was frustrated, he was terrified, he was hungry - and now food had arrived he could hardly wait. He gratefully gobbled down the herb roasted chicken and lusciously soft, buttered focaccia with orange juice.

After he was done eating, Tsuna bid goodnight to his parents, turned off the room light and turned himself in bed as a precaution. He could hear the sound of Iemitsu and Nana conversing affectionately with each other. It hurt to hear them express their love. He wondered if he was… envious?

He was the product of their love, but oh-so unloved.

Not long after, he could hear the rustles and bustles as they dressed up and prepared to leave for dinner. Tsuna completely covered himself with the blanket and buried his head deep in the pillows. It was for good measure – the door to his room opened, flooding with the light from the living space and someone stepped inside silently.

Tsuna felt that person watching him, and automatically knew it was Iemitsu. He kept his eyes shut and stopped breathing. Goosebumps rose all over his skin.

"Honey? Let's go." Nana's voice resounded from far. There was no reply, but Tsuna heard soft tap-tap of shoes and his room fell dark as the door was shut. The main gate was locked then, and instantly Tsuna threw his covers off and sat up in frenzy.

 _He was checking if I was awake or not._

He picked up his glass and poured some water. Trembling, he brought the glass to his lips and drowned it in one go.

 _Should I… should I really do this? If he_ _ **is**_ _actually engaged in illicit activities, is it safe for me to break into his laptop?_

He inhaled deeply. He had to do this. There was no way he would be at peace without knowing the whole truth.

 _I can do this. This is the only thing I'm good at. I won't screw it up._

Exiting his room, Tsuna stood in front of his parents' bedroom with determination in his eyes.

 _Let's do this._

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hi guys! So this was one hell of a chapter, aaaand the biggest one up-to-date! I'm so excited. I really love the way the story's progressing, and I would also like to edit the earlier chapters to be a little more readable. Please forgive me for the computer gibberish which is overly dramatized and a little bit incorrect probably because I didn't do any research... sorry... T.T. I know you all got excited by seeing Reborn, but please wait a few more chapters for his glorious debut! Haha. Also, as you have probably noticed, the Arcobaleno are all in their adult forms. I made the characters a little bit OOC on purpose. But please let me know if it bothers you too much. Any kind of criticism is gladly appreciated. Thank you so much for all your love and support. Please keep supporting me, and leave a review if you'd like. It would mean a lot to me!**


	14. Darker than Black

The master bedroom of family suites were generally larger compared to rest of the bedrooms. This was no exception. A grand, show-stopping king-sized bed stole your attention as soon as you stepped inside. The bed sat in the middle of the room. A deluxe headboard made of rich purple velvet atop milky white satin sheets and satin pillows with a velvet blanket neatly folded at the foot. On both sides were two nightstands with elegant lamps sitting atop them. Spotlights were laid along the roof. To his left, Tsuna could see the walk-in closet and the bathroom led by a narrow path. At the other side of the room were a work-table and a single chair. Floor-length windows all around the room were covered by airy, silk curtains.

He wondered where the laptop could be. The obvious place to check would be the table. Tsuna pulled open the drawers. They were completely bare except a few silica gel packets at the back. Pushing them close, Tsuna walked to the built in cupboards. Opening them revealed several shopping bags filled with goods Nana had purchased. Tsuna looked through the bed-side tables, but they were empty as well. He turned the pillows and ran a hand through the plush blankets. Nope. He carefully put them back into position. He had laughed when Solare had instructed him about various stealth tactics, calling him Professor of Thievery, but it actually came in quite handy now.

Tsuna entered the closet. He could see multiple reflections of himself on the mirrored wardrobes. Feeling slightly squeamish at the thought of seeing his parents' clothing, he pulled the handles open. He scanned through the shelves, most still bare, some with clothes stuffed in and a few hanging on the rod. He checked the drawers to find only accessories and toiletry. The bottom drawer contained some shoes.

Tsuna scrunched his eyes; hands on hips as he wondered _where_ on Earth Iemitsu could have placed his laptop. He entered the only remaining spot- the bathroom. It didn't contain his desired object either – which was not an unexpected outcome.

He had looked around the whole room! By any chance, did Iemitsu take it to the date? Tsuna shook his head – _that would be ridiculous_. And very suspicious. But Nana was very air-headed and believed every word of her husband so it might be… plausible.

Feeling extremely frustrated, Tsuna slumped on the ground and laid his head on the cool, tiled floor. He turned his head. His eyes widened as he located a familiar object under the shadows of the bed and sprang up. Tsuna crawled under the bed and dragged the black bag out. His head was throbbing with excitement. He coughed and sneezed as dust specks flew everywhere. The bag was secured with a padlock. Tsuna grinned.

 _Not a problem for me._

He produced a hairpin from his pocket – something he always kept there, just in case; and fitted it skillfully inside the keyhole. He moved the pin around, getting the feel of the lock, and with a few twists and turns the padlock opened with a little _click_. Taking it aside Tsuna opened the bag, and beamed when he saw the laptop.

He took it out, put some tapes over the web camera and turned it on. It was better to work there, as, if his parents returned he could immediately replace it and pretend that he needed some medicines or something.

Tsuna plugged his USB containing an Auto-bot software. The program was his creation, intended for unlocking passwords without alerting the system. It overrode the Administrator permission and deceived the system into thinking it was a program application. Tsuna smiled fondly when he remembered how proud Solare had been when he sent him a copy.

' **Welcome back, Iemitsu'**

System music played as the software showed its magic and unlocked the computer. He took out the USB and plugged another one for copying key files. Tsuna's heart thumped loudly inside his chest cavity as he explored the computer; his guts telling him to go back.

 _There is no going back now._

Tsuna noticed that Iemitsu had left his laptop in sleep mode – which was probably why it required such little security to access it. If the system required fingerprint or facial recognition he'd have been screwed.

Initially the files looked like any average computer. Some office documents, CV, stock images, flash games and some music. On the other hand, the data storage on the drives was almost running out.

But surely such meager files couldn't take _that_ much storage space? Tsuna felt astounded at the specs this laptop displayed – it had 16 gigabytes of RAM, an Intel Core i7 processor, _5_ terabytes of storage, high-end graphics card, mother board and very costly other parts. It hardly seemed likely he'd buy such a spectacular computer on a whim. Tsuna felt his mouth watering slightly in nerd-greed.

He typed some commands to expose the hidden files and activated some options. _Bingo._ The drives were now laden with countless files and folders in plain sight; most with Italian names and very few English names.

No problem. He'd translate it on his own PC. Tsuna copied the most-important looking files, and reverted everything back to its original condition. He then switched the computer off, and stuffed it inside the bag and pulled the chain back before locking the padlock. He put it under the bed and wiped any dust that had accumulated in the floor. He then did a last check around the room to see if he had misplaced something, and finally left.

Tsuna put his two USB drives in a box in the password-protected safe in his wardrobe, and got back in bed. It was no doubt he'd lay awake the whole night, but if he didn't want to arouse suspicion he must work the next day.

He let out a deep sigh of relief and smiled in victory. _The hardest part has been completed without a single problem._

All the emotional exhaustion caught up to him, and soon, Tsuna drifted off to sleep despite his earnest intentions.

* * *

"Sweetheart? Is anything the matter?" Nana asked her husband as she prepared to lie down in bed. Iemitsu was hunched on the floor, his hand tinkering with something under the bed. He looked up and smiled at her.

"Nothing, darling." He said. "Go to sleep. I'll join you shortly."

"Okay," Nana said, lying down and pulling the covers over her. She turned to her side and closed her eyes. "Remember to turn the lights off."

Iemitsu stared at the bag with narrowed eyes. He certainly remembered putting the stained side on top, but now it was on the other side. His sharpened eyesight could trace the faint shape of a handprint where dust had blown off.

Iemitsu ran a hand through his hair, and sighed deeply.

* * *

Tsuna woke up by the sound of knocks on his door. He groggily got up and opened it. There stood his father, shining like a sunflower and dressed up in a pair of tank top and cargo pants. Nana was in the hallway, fiddling with her purse.

"Tuna-fishy!" Iemitsu exclaimed, his hand playfully hitting Tsuna's shoulder and sending shockwaves through the poor, frail boy's body. "Rise and shine! Get ready within five minutes! We're going sightseeing today!"

Tsuna rubbed his aching shoulder and grimaced. "I'm fine… you guys go out. I'll go some other times or something." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he felt like he'd given a terrible answer. Iemitsu's smile became strained, and his eyes looked menacing all of a sudden.

"Is that so?" He asked. Tsuna looked away as a sudden wave of paranoia hit him. "…Okay then." Iemitsu agreed finally.

Tsuna nodded, still focusing on the ground. Then another thunderous pat wrecked his body. He audibly squeaked in pain and said, "Stop that!"

" _Ara_ , Tsu-kun must want to go explore with his friend! Don't hold him up, dear!" Nana piped in from behind. Tsuna froze.

 _Oh,_ _ **fuck**_ _._

"Friend?" Iemitsu said curiously. "Do you have a friend here, Tsuna?"

"A-ah… yeah, just someone uhh – I met, um, you know… not really important."

"I see."

Then Iemitsu leaned in and whispered, "We won't be back until sunset. Stay safe. Don't do anything too radical, okay?"

"W-what 'radical' things could I do? I'm just staying in the hotel…"

"Just saying. Curiosity killed the cat, you know?" He replied with a wink. Then he straightened up and turned to leave. "Bye-bye, Tsuna-fishy!"

"Bye, Tsu-kun!"

Tsuna watched as they gathered their things and left. _What was that all about?_ He thought, as he went to the bathroom to get refreshed. _Did he think it was a girlfriend?_

Ignoring his starving stomach, Tsuna went right back to work. He opened the safe and took out the USB drive. He plugged it inside his own laptop and began copying files into a translating program.

He hummed, browsing over the documents while the software processed his request. The name ' _Vongola'_ popped out numerous times on the titles. It supposedly meant 'Clam' in Japanese, which was odd – Tsuna initiated Tor as well, and searched the term. At the same time a mechanical _ding!_ Was heard, implying the translation had been finished.

Tsuna took a deep breath and began reading.

His eyes widened.

 _Transaction Record for Narcotics Export in April_

Sweat began to pool on his forehead. Tsuna set the AC to the highest settings and fanned the air around him.

 _[Important] Regular Firearm Import Status_

His heart was beating erratically. His lips were dry. Tsuna shakily reached for the glass resting on the nightstand and gulped down some water.

 _Hitman Assignment Report in February_

Tsuna tapped next.

 _CEDEF Weekly Member Report_

 _During Mission #336580 Moretti has taken down five men who attempted to steal #C1933 Truck carrying Cocaine crates. They have been revealed as members of Pietra familiga and a formal threat has been issued to them. They have yet to reply…_

He remembered the tall, slim man wearing a black beanie and a coat. _He killed five people?_ Tsuna almost couldn't believe it.

Were all the people he saw there… _murderers_?

 _Received 50 million from NY (#DF679) without any trouble at customs…_

 _CEDEF has agreed to accept the offer from Client 11987 to ensure victory in oncoming election. He will pay 40K Euro on cash…_

He couldn't bring himself to scroll down any more.

Tsuna slowly tapped on the browser icon and his previous search result was displayed on the screen. He just… stared at the information provided to him.

Vongola, was the largest and the most vicious mafia familiga in the world. CEDEF was an independent, secret intelligence organization under the wing of Vongola, aka, his father's supposed-to-be workplace.

Iemitsu was the leader of a major Mafia association.

"Oh my God…" Absurdly, Tsuna was too numb to feel anything at that moment. He just poured himself another glass of water and chugged it all in one go. He really needed some Sake right now.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Tsuna jumped at the noise and screamed, falling off the bed. He crashed on the floor, falling headfirst as the glass on his hand shattered at the impact with the floor. Tsuna gasped as tiny shards of glass pricked his skin all over. Dizzy and nauseous, he hastily stood up supporting himself on the bed, and brought his laptop's lid down.

Now the bell began ringing at continuous succession. Tsuna ran over in a daze to answer it and cried out as a large piece of glass sharply lodged itself in his left foot. He had to grab the doorframe as he almost fell again. Now he could hear banging on the door alongside the bells. Sobbing, Tsuna slid to the ground covering his ears.

In a swift moment, before he could properly assess the whole situation, the solid mahogany door broke, and poured in men clad in black. Tsuna's eyes rolled back and he knew no more.


	15. Coming into Contact

When Tsuna opened his eyes, he thought that he was still sleeping. Nothing but darkness greeted him. His limbs refused to move. Slowly as he processed his surroundings, he heard sound of murmuring in an unfamiliar language. Was he in a coma? A surge of panic ran through his body at that thought.

A rough shove to the palm of his left foot put the untended wound in blazing pain, sending Tsuna bolting forward with a muffled scream. Okay, he wasn't in a coma.

Then he understood that he in deep, _deep_ trouble.

He was fully awake. However, his limbs, mouth and eyes were bound by thick ropes rendering him effectively immobile. Tsuna stumbled to his side as he felt the ground beneath him move sharply to the right. He fell against the hard body of a man. The man threw him back against the seat harshly and swore.

So, he was in a vehicle.

His sudden movement caused the mumblings to stop. An eerie silence fell over. Tsuna just knew that everyone's attention was now focused on him. Now he remembered.

He was being kidnapped.

Was he… caught by the mafia?

But how…? Did Iemitsu find out and call his men against his own son –?

 _Iemitsu leaned in and whispered, "Don't do anything too radical, okay?"_

" _W-what 'radical' things could I do? I'm just staying in the hotel…"_

" _Just saying. Curiosity killed the cat, you know?" He replied with a wink._

Tsuna had trouble taking breaths. He gagged, and struggled against the binds, and tried to inhale rapidly, but his throat was closing fast and he couldn't take a single gulp of air.

Someone loosened the rope over his mouth and Tsuna gasped loudly, taking in sweet oxygen. He breathed in and out again and again, until he was sure he wasn't dying of asphyxiation. Then he tried to speak, but the rope was clasped hard against his mouth before he could utter a single word, cutting hard into his lips. Tsuna let out a muffled wince.

Then he was slapped, hard, and the momentum sent him hurtling towards the other side onto another person's arm who again slapped him back. Tsuna's eyes watered in pain, and the inside of his cheeks was bleeding. The men cussed at him. He cringed in disgust as spit hit his chin, dribbling grossly down his neck. They loudly snickered at his reaction.

He was so scared.

 _I shouldn't have tried to dig around in the first place._

 _Now they're going to kill me._

Tsuna didn't have a single idea how he'd escape. He was surrounded by these sadistic Italians, and his body was perfectly useless. He had no sense of direction whatsoever. He didn't know how long he'd been out – was it day or night? How far away were they?

He didn't even have his phone with him – and – did they take the laptop? If they had – they'd –

Tsuna was doomed.

It felt like forever before the car skidded to a hard stop, sending him to bump painfully against the front seats. Then he heard the sound of doors unlocking, and he was grabbed by the arm and dragged out. He cried as his foot burned with each step. He must've been bleeding by now. As he staggered in his step, he was pushed to the ground by the man, who again pulled him up by his hair, arching his head to the very back. Tsuna felt scared his head would be ripped clean from his body.

"Listen, you piece of shit," The man spoke in heavily-accented English, " _One_ more bothering and I'll slit your throat right _here_."

And he didn't seem to be joking.

Then he hauled Tsuna like a luggage bag through stone paved path, through doors and through stairs before he was flung against cement floor. Tsuna howled in pain as his elbow and knees collided against the hard ground, splitting open. He was kicked against the walls.

Tsuna breathed faintly; afraid even the sound of his respiration would unnerve the man and send him to beat him again. He was then left alone for a while.

Tsuna felt around him by whatever he could move his hands. It was just hard cemented floor and hard walls behind him. What was he going to do? If he didn't do anything by now, he'd have no more chances. But he was bound and gagged and he didn't even know what kind of place he was in!

Suddenly Tsuna heard a number of footsteps enter the room and immediately froze. He heard the scraping of chairs and the sound of movement as they sat down.

 _Who's there?_

"Untie him." A deep voice spoke, as if deliberately speaking Japanese. There was a scuffle to Tsuna's side as someone reached up and untied the ropes covering his eyes and mouth.

Tsuna opened his eyes and looked about wildly. It was a scantily illuminated room. There was no source of light except a spotlight directly above him, and another one in front of the room, revealing a long table with five suit-clad men sitting behind it. They were all large, muscly and bearded. He couldn't see their faces very well because the light was casting a large shadow over them, which he supposed was intentional.

He felt pure fear.

Each of them looked ready to murder him. Tsuna cowered. There was a small doorway to their side, and absolutely nothing else in there.

 _Somebody help me. Please._ Tsuna prayed. What had he done to deserve this? He felt so thirsty. Would they give him a glass of water if he asked? Probably not.

The man in the center leaned forward and asked, "What is your name?"

 _What is my name?_

He couldn't remember. He truly couldn't – what was it…? He drew his knees to his chest, a futile attempt at protecting himself. The man frowned.

"I asked you a fucking question."

"I, I – my name is –" His voice cracked, "It's – oh, it's Tsuna…"

"Speak louder!"

"It's Tsuna!" He cried out. "M-my name's Tsuna…"

" _Full_ _name_. Put that brat him in a chair, I can't see him." Tsuna was dragged out of the floor and tossed onto a rusty iron chair; whose raised spikes poked him from behind.

"Tsunayoshi… S-Sawada."

" _Sawada_? By any chance… you're related to Iemitsu?"

 _Iemitsu_. That name hit right in the heart. Tsuna nodded shakily, gulping down his own saliva.

"His… his son…"

The man scratched his cheek, and motioned something to a Mafioso, who nodded and left the room. "Alright then, _Tsunayoshi_. Do you know where we are now?" He asked with a hint of sarcasm.

Tsuna shook his head. "N-No…"

"Well… we are at the Vongola headquarters." The man said, as he reached to bring something up on the table. "You might recognize this."

It was his laptop. Tsuna stared, petrified. "You know, the device where you were doing some _beautiful_ research on our organization. How do you feel now? Astonished? Speechless?"

Tsuna looked down, trembling. "Look up!" The man yelled instantly, making Tsuna jump in fright. "Never, _ever_ , look away from me." He said, seething.

Tsuna felt like he would wet himself peering at those lifeless eyes. "Good. Now I want to ask you a few questions… Oh, Iemitsu!"

Tsuna's eyes snapped in the direction of the door opening, and he felt relief flooding his senses. He was never so happy to see his father ever again. The Mafioso entered after Iemitsu, and closed the door.

However, Iemitsu didn't even glance in his direction. _That's okay – he would surely tell them, right? I'm going to be alright!_

He nodded at that man's direction. "You asked for me?"

"Yes. Sit down please. Get him a chair."

A chair was brought for Iemitsu, as he took a seat beside the man interrogating Tsuna. "Well?" He said.

" _Well_ , Iemitsu, we have a huge breach of security here. Somebody accessed confidential information. And the perpetrator, this _Tsunayoshi_ _Sawada_ , says he's your son. What do you have to say about this?"

Iemitsu turned to look at Tsuna. Tsuna stared back anxiously. _Please say something._ He begged with his eyes. _Please, help me._

His father tipped his head to the side, scrunching his brows, as if curiously studying a scientific exhibit.

"My… son?"

Tsuna felt his heart drop.


	16. Betrayal

**A/N:** **Hi guys! Thank you so much! The review box absolutely blew up! I'm so grateful for all the love you guys have been showering me with – and honestly, writing this chapter became super intimidating now, and I really hope I that didn't let you down. That being said, I have a small gift coming for you (Spoiler: Double Update). PM me if you can think of any other gift! Please keep supporting. Ba-bye!**

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"My… _son_?"

Iemitsu turned to the Mafioso and scoffed loudly. "You must be out of your mind, Giliberti. I don't have any children – not to mention he looks _nothing_ like me." He said with unyielding confidence. The man stared at him, and Iemitsu returned it without batting an eye.

"So, he's lying, then?" Giliberti asked.

"What did I say?" Iemitsu said, now glowering. "I don't understand how you trust someone who broke into our database over my word! CEDEF will find out his identity if you're so worried –"

"Now, now, wait a second." Giliberti held up a hand. "This brat was captured from the hotel you've been staying in. And the database he accessed, seems to be yours. I believe it's a fair game to doubt you," he said with a sly smile. Iemitsu looked shell-shocked and slammed his arms on the table.

"Wait – he… he broke into my hotel!?" He exclaimed. "He broke into my _computer_!?" Then turning to the Mafioso standing nearby, he yelled, "I need a report of this. _Now_!"

"You – you damn bastard!" Tsuna finally screamed, throwing himself against the bonds as tears streamed down his face. Blood began to drip out as the ropes cut into his skin. "Now you're lying to save your own ass!? You'll forget your own son!? I knew it – I _knew_ it from the beginning! Call over your wife then! See if mama can recognize me or not! He's lying! He –"

"Oh, shut him up. He's talking too much." Giliberti mumbled dismissively. "And, Iemitsu – I expect reports within half an hour. Son or not, get some information."

As Iemitsu stood up to leave without sparing a second glance, Tsuna's mouth was tied up with a ragged, dirty cloth and he gagged as he tasted old blood, muck and puke on his tongue. If eyes could burn, his father – no, that _bastard_ would've been charred to bits in a second. The door slammed shut, and he despondently flopped back, crying.

It was clear his end was near. If only he'd killed himself four years ago, he wouldn't have to endure this torture. What was the meaning to his life, anyway? He could've gone in a clean way. But now…

"Coffee break!" Giliberti announced cheerfully and snapped his fingers. A maid entered the room, bringing coffee and food for the men sitting at the table. He sipped on his cup and motioned something to the henchman. "Entertain us a little."

At first, Tsuna didn't understand what the man was referring to. But as the men's stares focused on him with sadistic glee, it became quite apparent he was their object of entertainment for the day. His eyes darted over at the Mafioso, and he screamed in horror, which could barely be heard as muffled grunts. Laughter echoed across the room. Tsuna wanted nothing but to disappear into the earth. The man had unfurled a knife, slick and delicate – and was now coming at him.

"Go slowly, Remo. It's no fun if you finish him now."

'Remo' was in front of him now, a large shadow cast over his face as he blocked the tiny source of light in the room. He was bulging and huge. The nauseating odor of his body hit Tsuna right in the nose. For a stray second, he glanced at the man's eyes. It was gleaming with unconcealed delight, and free from any sort of guilt or pity. Helplessly Tsuna shut his eyes and curled into a tight ball. With a snarl, Remo grasped Tsuna and pressed him down with one hand. With the other, he struck down.

The blade tore through his flimsy shirt and gashed flesh. Agonizing pain shot through his abdomen. Tsuna thrashed around madly, screaming for help, adrenaline pulsating through his veins and his brain overridden with an animalistic instinct for survival.

But he could do nothing. Nothing at all.

As Remo drew the knife back, blood seeped out of the wound, and waves of pain wrecked his body, slightly dulled by the adrenaline yet enough to show white across his vision. His ears rang with white noise. Sweat gathered in his forehead, pouring down his cheek. Tsuna didn't get a break. The man kept bringing the knife down again and again, skillfully hitting the areas which were bound to hurt the most. Tsuna howled and writhed in agony. He could distantly hear the men holler and applause in appreciation. He just wanted it all to stop.

 _Just kill me already._

Everything hurt. His arms hurt, his stomach hurt, his calves hurt, his chest hurt. His entire body was on fire. He was exhausted and weak; it cost him everything to retain even an ounce of consciousness. The outside world was hardly legible as pain overtook all his senses. He was soaked in blood from head to toe. Tsuna vomited the remnants of his dinner all over the floor. He would certainly collapse if he was struck another time.

Thankfully, the torture was put on hold as the door opened to let in a man holding a stack of papers. They talked in Italian, and Tsuna hazily stared and tried to make sense of everything. The man handed the papers to Giliberti and left. He scanned them over, and looked at Tsuna with a smile.

"Let's see who you really are, _Tsunayoshi_."

Tsuna wheezed, stabbing pain tearing his body apart from inside out with each intake of air. What had Iemitsu conjured up? It felt like eternity to him, but couldn't have been that long in real life.

"Wow," Giliberti commented, "This fellow stole guards' uniform, forged a fake id card, and worked at the hotel Iemitsu had been staying for a number of days; observing Iemitsu and wife before making his move today. Well-thought plan, only if you knew more about our security, huh?"

"T-That's not true…" Tsuna mumbled faintly.

Ignoring him, Giliberti flipped through the pages. Slight disappointment showed up on his face. "They still didn't manage to find out your familiga. Tch. Would've made the job much easier. You might be with the Yakuza for all I know." He said, distributing the papers to the other members to read, and looked at Tsuna. "Aren't you a sneaky son of a bitch?" He said, laughing. "Brilliant idea, but too bad Vongola is a bit much for a challenge."

Tsuna closed his eyes and sighed in resignation. He was honestly astounded how Iemitsu had forged these fake papers so quickly. Perhaps he had always prepared a back-up plan in case of such an incident. He smiled sadly. Did his father truly not care for his own blood?

"Hey, hey – the brat's daydreaming. Wake him up. Looks like you went too light on him, huh, Remo?"

The Mafioso slapped him, dragging up by his hair. Tsuna fell back, too weak to support his own weight. Adrenaline was washing off, now replaced by cruel, unimaginable pain.

"Now that's over with," Giliberti said, "Let's start by saying your name."

"M-my name… is… Tsunayoshi Sawada…"

The Mafioso kneed him in the guts, and Tsuna coughed up blood. His whole world was swirling now, and he couldn't make out anything clearly. He felt only death could outweigh the sensation of pain, consuming his whole being.

" _Name_."

Tsuna breathed softly. "It's… it's Natsu." He said finally. In a suicidal attempt at cheekiness he had reversed the letters in his name. A non-Japanese person wouldn't catch it very easily, however.

And they didn't. "It's nice to speak the truth. Now tell me, who do you work for?"

It was a startling question. Tsuna tried to gather his thoughts, which was getting increasingly harder as the excruciating pain burned him like timber.

"I… I don't work for anyone."

One of the men sitting at the table, spat at him. Giliberti snickered. "Yes, a kid taking on Vongola on his own. Very believable." His gaze threatening, he said, "Don't make me keep repeating myself."

"I-I really don't know," Tsuna whispered in a quivering tone. He really had no idea – how would he fake a mafia familiga name? If it took Iemitsu some minutes to make fake footage and in-depth story, it wasn't hard to imagine how long it would take them to find out a non-existant family name. It was pointless to lie. A trickle of sweat ran down his face. But truth didn't seem to convince the panel of judges at all.

It was his end.


	17. At Tunnel's End

**A/N:** **As promised. Enjoy!**

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"Boy, it'd be a nice reminder that we don't have all day. Tell the truth, or the consequences wouldn't work out so well. I'll ask again – who do you work for?"

He really, really didn't want to die right now. "I don't – I don't work for anyone!" Tsuna cried out, and then coughed and hissed at the pain the sudden exclamation had brought. With a much softer tone he continued, "Please believe me…! I was curious – I didn't –!"

"Oh, _curious_ , were you, boy?" Giliberti said, in feigned amusement, a voice that sent chills throughout his body. "Happened to be exceptionally talented at hacking too? Another curiosity of yours?"

Tsuna didn't reply. What would he say? There was nothing anymore for him to confess, for the forged story was already set in stone, and whatever else he tried to plead would result in more and more beating. Tears rolled down his cheek.

He hated his father more than anything. If he had a knife right now, he knew he wouldn't hesitate for a moment to implant it into that bastard's stomach.

Wasn't there someone who could help him? Someone who would tell them that he just happened to do a wrong deed at a wrong time – who would tell them that he was innocent?

Tsuna wanted to scream his lungs out. _Please, tell them_. He wanted to yell. _Please, tell them I'm innocent_.

But he was so, so tired. He felt so weak that taking a breath was like pushing on a boulder. He still did not believe this was actually happening to him.

Honestly he wanted to think it was all a hallucination, a dream, a figment of his imagination. He wanted to wake up. His eyes desperately panned through the group of five in front of him. Why didn't they just break into laughter and tell him it was an elaborate prank? A Sicilian welcome, perhaps?

Tsuna didn't know that even if he lived, if he would ever be able to walk again. That pain he was feeling, he wouldn't wish it upon his worst enemies. It was twisting him, breaking him, ripping him apart. It was stinging, it was rippling, and it was doubling in waves through his bloodstream, through his nerves, through his bones. In that delirium, he faintly heard something spoken by the men sitting there. But he couldn't make sense of it.

He could think of Iemitsu only, and a burning desire to kill that man, to torture him until he begged on his knees, pleading for his life. That Mafiosi standing by slapped him, but he didn't budge. His nerves had long since dulled. These blows didn't sting anymore. He was kicked, and the chair doubled over, throwing his legs up in the air as blood rushed to his head.

It was just a command, spoken so clear like perfectly still water, reflecting every speck of light, which broke through the haze and rang in his brain.

" _Kill him._ "

It wasn't surprising. It was inevitable – he knew. Even the Gods had turned their backs on him, after all. But … it felt so unreal. It felt so… terrifying. Tsuna was in denial. Because if he truly admitted to himself that death awaited him this very day, it …

He was steadied back up, and saw the interrogators stand up and leave. Behind them, his eyes fell on two masked men. The dim flare of the spotlight fell on their eyes, but they were nothing but a pit of emptiness. There was no life in their eyes, and that froze him to the very core.

Tsuna couldn't deny it anymore. In that very moment, the meaning of fear became very apparent. He suddenly felt very cold. The hairs on his skin stood up. He noticed that he was shivering.

He could almost see the claws of death, hovering over him, waiting to clamp down. Tsuna counted the minutes he had left.

Two? Three?

How many seconds?

He didn't know when he had started crying. He was a show of disgrace. His body had gone entirely numb. That unimaginable pain that had thrown him into a state of frenzy was gone. Every cell of his body was waiting… waiting for that moment. Time seemed to have slowed down. He could hear every step, every breath, and every tinkle. Every footstep resonated loudly in his ears, louder than the bells of any church.

Then he saw the blade. It was unsheathed, and held casually in that man's hand. It must be so simple for them, right? Killing a human being must come as second nature; something as common as brushing their teeth. They were going to kill him. He was going to be one of the nameless ones thrown out. To rot, and to feed the rodents and snakes.

Tsuna shrunk back into the chair. Licking his lips, he tasted salt. Tsuna felt really thirsty. Would he be granted any last wishes? He would love a cup of water before he died.

Why him, though?

It was so unfair.

He wanted to laugh, despite the predicament. He didn't have any moments in his life truly worth remembering, to flash before his vision, did he?

Except, of course, his best friend… and Solare-san.

 _Solare-san, I'm at your 'home-ground'._ Tsuna thought. _It's too bad though… I could never meet you._

One of the men stood behind him and grasped his shoulders which were shaking uncontrollably. The one holding the blade crouched down to eye-level. He couldn't look. He couldn't speak.

 _Takeshi… I'll miss you so much._

The man gently held his chin up. He tightly snapped his eyes shut, breathing in short, laboring gasps.

"P-please…" Tsuna whimpered, "N-no… "

"Shh…"

Just as the cool metal grazed his throat, the door burst open. The men whirled around in alarm and brought out their pistols, unlocking the safety and pointing them at the stranger with lightning accuracy. Confused, Tsuna lifted his head. His view was blocked by those two people standing in front of him. Then they dropped their guns.

" _Get out._ " Said a deep, menacing voice.

" _B-but Don Giliberti ordered us –_ "

" _Get out before_ _ **I**_ _blow your brains out._ _ **Now**_ _!_ "

Without another word, they scurried off like squirrels, colliding against each other as they fought to avoid the man. Tsuna didn't understand what was going on. He blinked, staring at the newcomer.

He was lean, tall and slightly tanned. A dark, terrifying aura surrounded him. He wore a black suit over a yellow shirt and an orange rimmed black fedora which concealed his face, with thin, curly sideburns poking from underneath.

The man slowly walked over to him, and crouched down to meet his eyes. He tipped his hat, exposing his face. Tsuna peered into sharp, charcoal eyes. There was some sort of familiarity in them… almost as if he had known them for a long time.

Startled, Tsuna noted that he wasn't afraid of him. He was close enough that he could catch the smell of his cologne. Was it because the forbidding aura was gone? Or was it because his guts were perfectly calm?

Then, the man reached up and painfully flicked his forehead. Tsuna winced.

"You are the dumbest kid I've ever met." He told him in perfect Japanese.

"W-who… are you?" Tsuna asked perplexedly.

"Your worst nightmare." The man replied, as he protruded a knife from his pocket and sliced off the ropes binding Tsuna's limbs. They had gone numb from the loss of blood supply for so long, and were turning blue. Excitedly, he tried to move, already to cry out in excruciating pain as he fell back.

"Get up."

"I-I can't," Tsuna said, "It's hurting… s-so much."

But the man refused to listen, and grabbed his arm to yank him off the chair. The sudden motion flared up all the nerves in his body, and agonizing pain shot out wildly making Tsuna collapse. The man grasped him just before he fell, and steadied him against his body. Tsuna desperately clang to the source of comfort, and buried his head in his chest. It was warm and soothing…

"I'm… forgiving you just this once, kid." The man said darkly. "You will buy me a new suit."

Or not.

Tsuna laughed weakly. "I will, kind sir…" he said, "does that mean… my execution is postponed?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"You know," Tsuna whispered, lifting his head as he looked at the man's face, "You… you talk a lot like Solare-san? I-I wished that was true… I really miss him – and I'm still not sure if I'm dead and imagining these…"

Dragging a chair from the table, the man sat Tsuna on it and fished out a first aid kit. Expertly taking out a myriad of supplies, he commented.

"The dead don't imagine, idiot."


	18. Least Likely Savior

**A/N:** **Hi guys! I noticed on the double update, the view count on Ch. 17 was less than Ch. 16, meaning many of the people reading later might've skipped over one chapter. In that case, please go back and give it a read! Also, for those who love Fluffy (NOT Yaoi) Reborn-Tsuna interactions, would you like me to do minis in this time-frame on a separate story? Please let me know.**

 **Anyway, Thank you for all views, favs, follows and reviews. If you wish, please leave a review before you leave. Constructive criticism is highly appreciated. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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The man ripped off the remnants of the shirt off Tsuna's body.

"What are you–!?" He tried yelping in protest, but was silenced with a flick of the stranger's wrist. All over Tsuna's torso were deep, vicious lacerations. The surrounding skin was caked with dried blood, and in some places, fresh blood as some wounds had yet to close. Anybody would have gasped at the revelation of such a bloody scene, but the man just observed indifferently. Taking a washcloth, he soaked it with antiseptic liquid.

"Oh – no, no, no, no –" Tsuna inched away, grimacing. "Y-you can't do that –"

"Keep still." He said, holding Tsuna in place and started cleaning the wounds. Bellowing like a dying cow, he tried elbowing the man who just dodged every hit without missing a step. "Stop!" He screamed, "That hurts!"

"You're going to die if I don't clean it."

"Can't you be a little – Ugh – nicer –? _Ouch_!"

After a long time of cleaning away the blood and dirt, the man bandaged them and stood up. "There, done –"

"Oh, _thank_ goodness."

"–We still have your legs to take care of."

All the colors drained from Tsuna's face as he remembered the shard of glass lodged in his foot. "I – uh, look, you can do this later…?"

"Take your pants off."

" _What_!?" Tsuna gasped indignantly, turning red. "What's – what's wrong with you!? I'm not taking them off."

Raising an eyebrow, the man chuckled. "If I wanted to hit it off, I assure you, kid – I can find much better options than your scrawny little butt." He said, "You can either get it down in a dignified way, or I can do it for you."

"At least tell me your name!" Tsuna cried out, covering his mouth in embarrassment. "I can't believe it…! What did I do to deserve this!?"

"It's Reborn."

Tsuna curiously peeked from in-between his fingers. "Just… Reborn?" He asked.

"Yep." Reborn replied with a smirk and a tip of his hat. A green chameleon crawled from the shade of the fedora and nestled itself on his hand. "And this is Leon. My partner." He said, patting it fondly.

"Err, hi… L-Leon."

After another round of screaming, crying, punching, kicking, and ducking – Tsuna was finally patched up. He was swathed in bandages from head to toe, much resembling a mummy. He staggered, but Reborn supported him with one hand under his shoulder.

"Um, so, _Reborn_ , what… happens from now on?" Tsuna asked hesitantly.

He hummed in reply. "Well… I would say you're screwed."

"And what does _that_ mean!?"

"Something awful. Let's grab a bite now, I'm pretty hungry."

"W-wait –"

But once again his objections were completely ignored. Reborn dragged him out of the dingy interrogation-slash-execution-chamber, and Tsuna felt fresh air hit him like never before. The lights out here was much brighter, harsh to his eyes, and he had to scrunch them close to get used to it again. However, it felt divine.

It felt great to be alive. To be out of the hell-hole was nothing short of a miracle.

And Tsuna was extremely grateful to the Italian man.

Outside he saw men clothed in black suits walking around the corridor. But it seemed like they were purposefully avoiding looking in his direction.

It must be because of Reborn, Tsuna thought. _Just… just who_ _ **is**_ _he?_

Then Reborn nudged him in the arm and guided him down another direction. Tsuna scanned his surroundings as he walked. The walls were covered with lustrous wallpapers in golden hue, and in minute intervals were hung life-sized and framed oil paintings of men who must've been previous bosses. Under their feet were plush, red carpets that had to be vacuumed every hour – they looked _that_ clean. Though they were well-hidden, Tsuna noticed hidden cameras at every nook and cranny. His stomach churned in dread.

 _Am I really walking through the halls of the most notorious Mafia organization in the world?_

Whoever passed by them stopped and slightly bowed to Reborn, while the latter didn't display any reaction. It was a funny thought, but Tsuna wondered whether _he_ was the current head of the organization. It was hard to keep up with Reborn in his exhausted state; not to mention the mansion was huge – and the winding passages seemed endless and nearly impossible to remember.

At the dead-end of a dimly-lit corridor, Reborn stopped, and punched some codes into a digital door which swung open a second after. They entered, and Tsuna was told to sit on a chair as Reborn closed the door and switched on the lights.

He found himself sitting in a barely-decorated, but average bedroom. It had no windows, grey walls and wooden flooring. On the far end was a queen-sized bed with a nightstand beside it. The bed was neatly made. There was also a closet, a sofa and tea-table set, a reading table stacked with books, and a chair he was presently occupying. A large, flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall directly opposite the bed. On the other end was a door leading to, presumably, the washroom.

"Is this… your room?" Tsuna asked. Reborn nodded, and took off his coat, hanging it on a hook by the door and settled on the couch.

"When I'm paying a visit to the Ninth, yes."

"Who's that?"

Reborn sighed. "The current leader of Vongola. Timoteo. He's the Ninth in succession." He explained.

"Oh…" Tsuna trailed off, hanging his head low. His heartbeat was picking up again, thinking about it all. The Mafia… Just the finishing nail to his coffin. If he let his mind wander, he could almost feel those merciless men thrusting knives into his body, laughing in delight as he screamed in pain and begged to be spared…

Tsuna shuddered.

It was just a burning desire to learn about the secret Iemitsu was harboring. And in a matter of hours he was kidnapped, tortured and about-to-be-executed before someone saved him, and now he was hanging on to a torn thread of life.

"C-Can I have a glass of water, please?" He requested quietly.

Reborn stopped and stared at him for a moment before shrugging and complying. It hadn't occurred to Tsuna that nobody asked _Reborn_ for pouring them water unless they had a death wish – but he wasn't exactly in the condition for walking over and holding a jug, much less tilt it and pour liquid in a glass. Only years later would he understand the incredible kindness shown to him by the very personification of Satan. He gratefully took the glass from Reborn and emptied it, feeling the wonderful liquid go down his parched throat. He felt like he could chug an entire galleon in one go.

"Thank you –" Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Startled, Tsuna looked up. Reborn walked over as if he was expecting it, and opened. There was a maid holding two trays of what looked like aluminum foil containers. Reborn took them, and thanked her graciously. She blushed as bright as ripe tomatoes. Tsuna rolled his eyes at the exchange.

" _U-um, sir, Don Giliberti has demanded- err, urgently_ _ **requested**_ _your presence… he's currently speaking with the Ninth._ "

Reborn smiled. " _Is that so? Well, let him know that I'm busy now. I'll see him in my own time."_ He said, reaching forward to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear before whispering, " _Won't you?_ "

Flustered beyond meaning, the maid deeply bowed and said, " _I-I will, sir!_ " and ran away. Chuckling humorously, Reborn shut the door.

"What is it?" Tsuna asked.

"Lunch!" He replied, setting a tray before Tsuna and then placing his own on the tea table. Rolling his sleeves up, he began unwrapping the boxes. The smell of Italian spices wafted through the whole room.

"I meant the maid! What did she say?"

"Just some old idiot wondering why you are still alive and breathing instead of being dog food. I reckon Pablo was quite excited, too." Reborn said without a worry in the world, busily digging into his pasta with a fork. "Giliberti's bloodhound, I mean." He then clarified.

Tsuna wasn't feeling so cheerful. "And what… are you gonna say?"

Reborn shrugged and simply continued eating. Groaning in exasperation, Tsuna threw his hands up in the air. He took his own tray in hand, wincing slightly at the dull pain emanating from the muscles, and placed it on his lap. Just then, he recalled something very important.

"Why did you save me, anyway?" Tsuna said in sudden realization. "And – who _are_ you?"

"I'm the greatest hitman in the world." Reborn answered cheekily. Staring incredulously at him for some time, Tsuna laughed.

"…Thank you for saving my life, Reborn." He said then, quietly. "I really appreciate it."

* * *

"Sorry for not informing you sooner, Ninth, but I merely wanted to test my apprentice's skills." Reborn said, smiling at the current leader of Vongola. He remained standing, willfully ignoring Giliberti who was sitting beside him.

It was evening and they were in the private study of Timoteo. Meanwhile, Tsuna cowered behind him, trying all but not to collapse to the floor. His body was convulsing as if he was a walking earthquake. Giliberti scowled, bursting with anger yet unable to say anything until he was given permission to.

"I don't understand, Reborn. Please clarify what you mean. And _why_ are we talking in Japanese?" Timoteo asked.

"Oh, it's also for my apprentice to understand and contribute to the conversation, Nono. Seeing he is Asian, he has a little bit of trouble picking up Italian fluently. He will learn soon, though. So, we needn't worry." Reborn replied, spitting lies in the most gracious of tones. Tsuna blanched, feeling the stare of Giliberti burning holes in his skull.

"You see, Sir, I happened to find a very promising talent while on a trip to Japan. I scouted him, and taught him everything about programming, computing and hacking. I have been tutoring him for a long time. The latest assignment I had given him was his final test – to see if he is truly worthy or not – to break into the CEDEF leader's laptop and obtain the database of his computer.

I do admit my intention was partly to annoy him, which didn't go too well … Though my student showed brilliant progress initially, he failed and I had to rescue him out of his inevitable death. And this is my explanation for interfering uncharacteristically into a routine extermination program."

Tsuna was sweating buckets behind him. _What the hell is this guy going on about? His apprentice? Final mission? Seriously!?_ On the other hand, he had to give him credit; even if he was born a hundredth time, Tsuna would not be able to lie so fluently and confidently. And that cover-up story was as much incredulous as much it was brilliant.

Timoteo was not someone he expected as the leader of the most dangerous Mafia in the world. He was an old man in his sixties, with graying hair and kind, wrinkled features. He had a prominent moustache, and was dressed in a formal suit. He spoke Japanese with a thick accent, and a voice that was stern, commanding, yet… compassionate. Tsuna couldn't understand how he could lead an organization with all those ruthless, bloodthirsty subordinates, and deal in murder, trafficking, drug cartels and all sorts of horrific deeds.

Tsuna shook his head. No matter how nice they seemed at first, he would never – _ever_ take them at face value. Moretti was a murderer. He had no doubt the others at Iemitsu's 'office' were, too, entangled deeply with the mafia world.

"But I believe Giliberti has given me quite a different assessment, Reborn. What of it?" The Ninth asked. Each time Reborn's explanation was questioned, Tsuna's heart raced. But the hitman remained calm, steady, _confident_.

"He received only the report CEDEF gave him, Sir. In turn, their report was formed through CCTV footage from the hotel, talking with guards and verifying other records. I've erased all of his traces from the face of Earth since the day I took him in, and so, it is quite obvious they didn't find anything about him. I assure you, he's with me – and he is of no harm to Vongola."

"Well, I can see that…" Timoteo said, "What I don't understand is how such a weak boy can cause such turmoil…"

 _Me too, grandpa, me too._ Tsuna thought, but said nothing. He transfixed his eyes on the ground, intent on not meeting the man's eyes.

"Beats me." Reborn answered. "Is this case closed or do you wish to continue doubting my loyalty, Nono?"

Timoteo laughed good-naturedly. "Has that ever happened, Reborn?" He said, "You and your apprentice are both free to go, on the terms that you do not set him upon breaking into our trusted employees' devices and stealing information from them."

Reborn prodded Tsuna on the shoulder, making him jolt up. _What?_ He asked with his eyes. The hitman motioned him to the direction of the Ninth. Tsuna glared daggers at him – which seemed quite ineffective against the deadliest assassin alive – and then slowly turned towards Timoteo, gulping in fright. The Ninth was looking back at him with a slight, amused smile.

"Well?" He asked.

"E-eh?"

"Would you make an agreement with me, that, in future, you won't unnecessarily hack the computers of our members and take their protected data on the terms of your complete acquittal?"

"Oh – y-yeah! I mean, yes! Totally! N-never again! Hahaha!" Tsuna yelled unnecessarily loud, laughing nervously as he rubbed his untamed mass of brunet hair while the others fell in complete silence.

He stopped grinning with another poke from Reborn, and coughed awkwardly. A blush crept up his cheek and he again focused on the ground. Timoteo chuckled.

"Alright then. It's set – oh! I don't suppose that I know your name?"

Tsuna looked up in alarm at Reborn while the latter shrugged. _Make up something._ He seemed to say with his eyes.

 _Here goes nothing._ "Um… it's – it's Natsu." He stammered, sticking with the one name he pulled from the top of his head. Timoteo nodded.

"Well, Natsu. Good luck on your training. You are all dismissed."

Giliberti and Reborn bowed, and Tsuna mimicked them with a hasty bow. The foul-mouthed Mafioso left at first, muttering insults under his tongue. Reborn was next, followed by Tsuna.

"If you need anything," The Ninth called out, "You can always count on me… Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna froze.

"Ah," Timoteo laughed good-naturedly and hit his own forehead, "I mean _Natsu_. A nasty side-effect to growing old, I say. Have a good day, my boy."


	19. Only the Beginning

"I can't do that!"

"You have no choice." Reborn said, observing Tsuna with his onyx black eyes as he sipped on a cup of Americano. Tsuna was rapidly pacing across the room, breathing heavily and his hand pulling on his hair; his face a mixture of shock and bewilderment.

"I-I still don't want to! You can't just tell me to abandon everything I've ever known, throw away my identity and become a fucking criminal! I'm not going to mug – or, kidnap people – or, or kill them! I am not like –"

"Tsuna. _Stop_."

Tsuna slammed his hand on the wall, glanced at Reborn, and sighed heavily. He flopped down on the ground, closing his eyes.

"I can't… _do_ this. Reborn." He said, tears welling up in his eyes. "Normal people don't suddenly become wild criminals if you ask them nicely!"

"I'm not asking you to become a criminal, Tsuna." Reborn said, placing his cup down on the table, his expression unreadable. "But you have to learn how to protect yourself. Iemitsu is not a force which can be easily reckoned with. He's going to do everything to prevent you from returning to Namimori. Head-butting into fights is a fool's idea. If you want to live, you should listen to me."

"I don't know about that."

"What do you even have back there?"

"Don't talk like you know everything about me!" Tsuna said angrily.

His fury didn't have any impact on the hitman. "Tsuna, I know more about this world than you. You dug your own grave when you hacked into Iemitsu's computer. This is not a question of morality. The real world is hardly ideal. And don't forget that if I didn't step in back then, you'd be dead right now."

"I _know_ that." Tsuna mumbled. Drawing his legs to his chest, he buried himself between his knees. "Please… just… Reborn – my life has been turned upside down in a day. At the very least, give me some time to think... I'm lost. I'm so lost." He pleaded, feeling a lump in his throat.

"Okay." Replied Reborn shortly. "You stay here, while I go check on something." Tsuna nodded wordlessly.

"Don't open the door for anyone," He called out over his shoulder before walking out and closing the door quietly behind him.

Tsuna felt like death would've been a better option for him. He felt suffocated.

His whole world had crumbled and caved in. He looked up and stared at the bland white wall in front of him; painfully unfamiliar and unwelcoming. His room at Namimori flashed before him. It wasn't comfortable by any means, but it meant home. It was somewhere he had spent his whole life.

To think of abandoning his past… it made him want to throw up.

Sure, Tsuna's life was nothing short of miserable. But this new place wasn't heaven either. From the descriptions he read, Vongola was hell. He was being forced into the lowest of these fiery pits. Murder, extortion, robbery, terrorism and bloodshed… everything happened here. Tsuna thought this sort of things only happened in cliché Hollywood films; not in real life.

Not with a pathetic teenager living in a small town, minding his own business.

How would he _survive_? He didn't know how to shoot a gun - or if he even wanted to. He wasn't going to murder or rob someone! And did Reborn even look at him? He was a freaking teenager for goodness's sake. One punch from those Italian thugs and he would be knocked clean out. If the whole world was against him, how would this mysterious man save him? He also remembered that old man, Nono, calling him by his real name. How on earth did he know Tsuna?

Everyone was hiding so much. He didn't know anything. And that fact terrified Tsuna greatly. He was a rag doll being dragged from one place to another, dangling by a rope on the edge of an abyss. Anyone could cut the rope and end him then and there.

Reborn had told him to forget his previous life. He had to forge a new identity, join the mafia, using his technological skills to fight Iemitsu from the inside out.

" _How_?" Tsuna had asked. And Reborn said that he would tell him as time came. Tsuna hit his head on the wall. It felt like it would split open any time now. He just wanted to curl up… he just wished someone would come and hug him tightly; tell him it was alright.

"And _why_?" Tsuna wanted to ask. _Why_ did the man birth him if he couldn't be even bothered to raise him? What sin had he committed that he had to be punished in such a cruel way?

The door opened again with a small click, and entered Reborn. Tsuna glanced at the man with his puffy, tear-stricken eyes. Reborn said nothing and settled down on the bed, taking off his fedora. His curly, black hair splayed across the white sheet. That chameleon of his sat atop his fedora.

He looked a bit more humane... that way.

"Can I ask you something?" Tsuna finally mustered up the courage to say.

"Depends on the question."

"Why... why are you helping me?"

There was a slight pause.

"I was bored," Reborn replied indifferently. Tsuna blinked, then felt a small smile creep up on his face as something clicked.

"Solare-san."

"What?" Reborn's eyes snapped towards him, narrowing. Tsuna's smile only got wider.

"Nothing." He replied, all the anger, frustration and sadness seemingly melting away for just a split second.

"Nothing at all."

* * *

 **A/N:** I've been gone so long that this story seems foreign to me. A lot of things happened in my life, combined with the pressure of college, I'm suffocating. While I have every intention of completing this story, and have planned out everything, even what each chapter will contain - I just can't get into writing mood. I'm thankful for every single reviews you guys gave, and I apologize for such a short update. I hope it's manageable. Thank you.


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